The meeting of the Russian Security Council, which was supposed to be dedicated to transport security, began with a "deus ex machina." Duma Speaker Volodin asked Putin how to react to Trump's statements about nuclear tests. Putin gave the floor to Defense Minister Belousov, who immediately read a report on how the Americans are preparing for nuclear war, what and how much they are modernizing, which missiles will fly from Germany to Russia and China, and so on. And in the end, he said that it was necessary to "de-conserve the Novaya Zemlya test site" and conduct nuclear tests. Putin supported it, and an hour later Peskov stated that Putin had only instructed to consider such a possibility.What do we have in the dry residue?1. This is not an arms race, as many have already begun to say. Russia cannot afford it. In parallel with Putin's statements, by the way, the launch pad for the Angara rocket was de-energized due to electricity debts. This is all you need to understand about the "arms race."2. Putin simply decided to raise the stakes with nukes. This is all very comical, but he, it seems, decided to pretend that he was offended by Trump's nuclear blackmail and now he is playing the main madman in the world, to whom the Americans and Chinese should come to persuade him not to escalate the situation...I repeat - this is very comical.3. Now, it seems, all Russian and not only "conservatives" will begin to pressure pacifism within the United States and that Trump can start a nuclear war. The ideal way out of the situation for Putin is to force the United States to sit down at the negotiating table. The minimum program is to bring about the chaoticization of U.S. domestic politics amid the election campaign. Realistically, I don't think anything will come of it.4. As always in recent years, Putin makes life easier for China, which will benefit from this nuclear bluff.5. We all just need to understand: it is possible that in the coming weeks (months), we will live in pre-nuclear hysteria. But I repeat what I always said: Putin is a coward. He will never press the red button. Therefore, you just need to be patient.SourceAbout the author: Vadym Denysenko, political scientist.The editorial board does not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.