MOSCOW – Russia on May 12 tested a new long-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, months after the last treaty with the United States limiting their atomic arsenals lapsed.
The ending of the New START agreement in February formally released the world’s two largest nuclear powers from a raft of restrictions.
“This is the most powerful missile system in the world,” claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin after receiving a report of a successful launch of Sarmat, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
He said the missile could carry a warhead more than four times more powerful than anything Western militaries possessed, adding that Sarmat would be on “combat duty” by the end of this year.
Mr Putin has repeatedly said the missile will be deployed by the end of the year since its first test in 2022, but those plans have yet to materialise.
Mr Pavel Podvig, a senior researcher at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, said the deployment of Russia’s “largest missile” this year was realistic, but added it will not lead to a “significant change in the deterrent potential of Russia’s strategic forces.”
The Kremlin said it had notified the US of the launch, the state news agency TASS reported.
Even though Moscow and Washington agreed to reestablish high-level military dialogue shortly after New START expired, there were no immediate signs of renewing or prolonging it.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pressed for a new treaty to include China, whose arsenal is growing but still significantly smaller than those of Russia or the US, but Beijing has publicly rejected the pressure.
Mr Trump had been mostly silent on Russian calls to extend New START, which was signed in 2010 and imposed the last restrictions on Moscow and Washington after decades of agreements dating from the Cold War.
Both countries have repeatedly accused each other of failing to adhere to the agreement.
Sarmat, referred to as “Satan II” in NATO designation, is the first ICBM produced in post-Soviet Russia to be classed as “super heavy”.
It is said to be capable of travelling 35,000 kilometres. AFP
