Russia holds nuclear training drills after Putin-Trump talks delayed
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The news: Russia said on Wednesday that it had conducted major training exercises involving nuclear weapons, one day after a scheduled summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest were put on hold.
The context: A statement released by the Kremlin said that Putin supervised the “exercise involving their land, sea, and air components. The exercise involved live launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and air-launched cruise missiles.”
The test included the launch of a land-based ‘Yars’ intercontinental ballistic missile from a cosmodrome, the launch of a ‘Sineva’ ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine and the launch of nuclear-capable cruise missiles from strategic bombers.
“All training objectives were successfully accomplished,” the Kremlin said.
After speaking last week, Trump and Putin had agreed to the Hungary summit which the Kremlin had said could transpire in the coming weeks, but after a call between the countries’ diplomats on Monday the White House said Trump had no plans to meet Putin "in the immediate future." Sources told Reuters that the delay came after Russia reiterated its terms for a peace deal, including Ukraine’s cessation of the enture southeastern Donbas region, rejecting Trump’s comments last week that both countries should freeze current front lines.
The nuclear drills on Wednesday come after seven people were killed, including two children, by Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine on Tuesday night. Children were among the 27 people wounded.
Russia also announced plans to use reservists to defend civilian infrastructure such as oil refineries after a rise in Ukrainian drone attacks deep into Russia over recent months. Putin has ordered the size of the regular army to expand to 1.5 active servicemen.
The sources: Government of Russia, BBC, Reuters
