If growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific weren’t alarming enough, a recent round of nuclear provocations has only salted the wound.

On Oct. 29, U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to resume nuclear-weapons testing, taking leaders in the region by surprise.

Then, on Nov. 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow will follow Trump’s lead and immediately resume nuclear-weapons testing. This was particularly alarming given Putin’s plans to withdraw from the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits tests involving nuclear explosions.