Trump ordered nuclear testing to warn Russia – Boyechko
Hope for Ukraine founder, Yuriy Boyechko, said President Donald Trump’s directive to the War Department to restart testing of the United States’ nuclear weapons was a strong message to Moscow.
Boyechko argued that for years, Russia has leveraged its nuclear arsenal to intimidate and divide Western leaders, a strategy that has slowed military aid to Ukraine and deterred direct NATO intervention.
“This long-standing dynamic is being upended by Donald Trump, who has met Russia’s nuclear sabre-rattling not with caution, but with dismissive defiance,” he wrote in a statement.
Boyechko described the “dramatic escalation” as a move that has left the Kremlin bewildered and struggling to respond to a leader “who refuses to be swayed by their carefully crafted nuclear rhetoric.”
According to the critic, the new approach marks a radical departure from the restrained strategies of previous administrations, which often operated under the shadow of a potential nuclear showdown.
Boyechko noted that while former American leaders tiptoed around Russian red lines, President Trump has moved nuclear submarines to Russia’s shores and imposed sanctions on its energy sector.
The humanitarian said the result is a new and unpredictable chapter in nuclear diplomacy, where Russia’s most potent psychological weapon appears to have lost its power.
He added that allies and adversaries are watching as the engagement rules are rewritten, and whether Trump’s gamble will yield a more secure world or push it closer to the brink of nuclear confrontation.
Speaking on Trump’s directive, Vice President JD Vance said it’s good to test weapons to ensure they are functioning. “We know that it does work properly, but you got to keep on top of it over time,” he told reporters.
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova explained that Moscow responded to NATO’s aggressive actions by developing armaments such as the Burevestnik missile.
“As the Russian leadership has repeatedly stated, their [defense systems] development is forced and takes place to maintain a strategic balance,” the diplomat remarked at a briefing.