Russia would not be first to test nuclear weapons: Ulyanov

TEHRAN, (MNA) – Russia's permanent envoy to international organizations in Vienna said in a tweet that Russia would not be the first to test nuclear weapons.

"President V.Putin clearly stated that Russia would not be the first to test nuclear weapons", Mikhail Ulyanov wrote in a tweet on Sunday. 

"No need for speculations and allegations in this regard. But If any state resumes tests, the effectiveness of stewardship programs would be the last issue to think about", he further wrote. 

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview that "The collective West is not inclined to somehow recall the topic of American nuclear weapons, which are based here in Europe, around our country, but in this case they are inclined to such a hysterical reaction to our plans to build storage facilities for tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus."

Washington has an estimated stockpile of about 3,800 nuclear warheads deployed on ICBMs, submarines, and strategic bombers. As part of NATO's deterrence strategy, the United States is deploying its nuclear weapons in Europe and beyond.