Putin: Russia is developing new strategic nuclear weapons

Russian leader Vladimir Putin said on Friday at the Central Asia-Russia summit in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe that Russia is developing new strategic nuclear weapons and it will not be a problem for Moscow if the US does not agree to extend the New START nuclear treaty.

New START, the last remaining U.S.-Russian arms control treaty, expires on February 5, 2026.

“Will these few months be enough to decide on the extension (of the treaty)? I think it will be enough if there is good will to extend these agreements. And if the Americans decide that they do not need it, it will not be a big problem for us,” Putin said.

He added that Russia continues to work on the development and testing of new generation nuclear weapons.

For the second time this week, Putin mentioned the possibility of other countries, which he did not name, conducting nuclear tests, and said that if it happened, Russia will also conduct such tests.

“There is always a temptation to test the effectiveness of fuel that has been used in missiles for many, many years. This is all simulated on computers and experts believe that is enough, but some of these experts believe that repeating the tests is necessary,” he said.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergei Ryabkov, stated directly that If the US conducts a nuclear test, Moscow will do the same.

On Sunday, the US president said that he had already decided to transfer Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. As Reuters comments, this caused a nervous reaction from Putin, who believed that it would spoil what was left of Russian-American relations and start a new stage of escalation of the conflict, considering that it would require the involvement of American military personnel.

Andrei Kartapolov, head of the defense committee of the Russian Duma, warned that Russia will not only shoot down the Tomahawks, but will also bomb the places from which they will be launched and will find ways to retaliate that will be painful for Washington, Reuters reports.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow welcomes the statement of US President Donald Trump, who said that Putin's offer to extend the validity period of the New START nuclear treaty by one year is a good idea. (PAP)

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