Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin

Donald Trump has called for the US to resume nuclear testing for the first time in more than three decades, leaving even Russian officials a little bewildered.

The US president declared on Thursday that he ordered the US military to immediately resume testing nuclear weapons after 33 years.

He made the surprising announcement moments before his meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping, and claimed it was because of “other countries’ testing programmes”.

Trump insisted this would mean the US would start testing on “an equal basis”.

It’s not entirely clear which nations the president was referring to, but the declaration came days after he criticised Moscow for testing its latest missiles.

The US has not tested its nuclear weaponry since 1992 while China last tested in 1996.

Post-Soviet Russia has not tested a nuclear weapon at all – despite plenty of

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