WASHINGTON:

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had ordered the Pentagon to start nuclear weapons testing "on an equal basis" to China and Russia — an announcement made just minutes before he held a high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The move came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, in defiance of Washington's warnings.

"Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis," Trump wrote in a social media post.

Following that announcement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that the weapon tests announced by Putin did not constitute a direct te

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