Putin claims Russia has tested ‘new kind of weapon’ in chilling threat | World | News
Vladimir Putin claims Russia has tested a “new kind of weapon” in a chilling development. At a press conference in Tajikistan, the Russian president said his country has continued to develop and test new nuclear weapons.
Putin also voiced a hope that Moscow and Washington would agree to extend the 2010 New START arms reduction treaty for another year after it expires in February. The pact limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers.
US President Donald Trump said last month that Putin’s proposal to extend sounded “like a good idea” to him.
The Russian dictator said on Friday (October 10) that Russia and the US still have enough time to agree on an extension “if there is a good will”. But he warned that if the US decides it doesn’t need to then “it’s not critical” for Russia “at all”.
It was then he went on to claim Russia has upgraded its strategic nuclear arsenals and is preparing to field new weapons. At the same time, he warned the pact’s demise would mean there will be no arms control agreement left between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.
Putin said: “We’re ready to negotiate if the Americans, the American side, sees it as acceptable and useful. If not, then no. It would be a pity, because there would be nothing left at all in terms of deterrence in the area of strategic offensive weapons.”
Russia‘s leader also lavished praise on Mr Trump’s peace efforts, despite the US leader not winning a Nobel.
Asked whether he thought Mr Trump was unjustly passed over for the Nobel Peace Prize in favour of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, Putin said that he wasn’t the one to decide.
He went on to hail Mr Trump’s efforts toward a ceasefire in Gaza and in Ukraine. Putin said: “He’s really doing a lot to resolve such complex crises that have lasted for years and even decades.”
He added that if the Gaza ceasefire deal is carried out, it would mark a “historic” achievement. On the war in Ukraine, Putin said he and Mr Trump discussed ways to settle it at their summit in Alaska in August.
The Russian leader said that on the whole there was an understanding about where the US and Russia “should move” and what they “should strive” to end the conflict.
Putin went on to say that he had told Mr Trump in Alaska that he needed more time to think about it and discuss it with Russia‘s allies. He said: “These are complex issues that require further analysis, but we remain committed to the discussion that took place in Anchorage.”
