Russia ran a successful test of its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile and wants to prepare to deploy the weapon, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday.
The country says the missile is “invincible” to air defenses and has a nearly unlimited range.
“We need to determine the possible ways of using it and start preparing the infrastructure for deploying this weapon,” Putin said, adding, “It is a unique ware which nobody else in the world has.”
The test comes after a summit between Putin and President Donald Trump in Budapest was canceled. Trump suggested Russia’s continuing intensifying war with Ukraine contributed to the scrapped summit.
“It just didn’t feel right to me,” Trump said Wednesday. “It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I canceled it.”
The missile test signals Russia is ready to pressure Ukraine further militarily to surrender.
Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russian generals, said the missile remained airborne for 15 hours during the test and covered a distance of around 8,700 miles. During the test, the weapon demonstrated “its high capabilities in evading anti-missile and anti-aircraft defences,” Gerasimov said.
Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said Russia communicated the successful tests to the Trump administration during Putin’s Alaska visit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for additional tariffs and sanctions on Russia after Putin launched more than 100 drones against Ukraine on Saturday. He said three people were killed in the attack, with dozens injured, including children.
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“There are significant results regarding the pressure on Russia: the 19th EU sanctions package and new U.S. sanctions targeting Russian oil. We are grateful to our partners for these steps, but it is important not to stop here,” Zelensky wrote on X.
“And, of course, additional tariff and sanctions restrictions are needed against Russia and all those helping it stay afloat. Certainly, pressure will help bring about peace,” he concluded.
