President Vladimir Putin has ordered large-scale strategic nuclear force exercises, encompassing ICBM test launches and strategic bomber operations, at a time when his planned summit with US President Donald Trump on Ukraine has been postponed. The Russian government maintains that these extensive military maneuvers were planned beforehand and are crucial for testing the country’s nuclear command and control infrastructure. Reports indicate that all elements of Russia’s nuclear triad participated, with a Yars ICBM successfully launched from Plesetsk and a Sineva ICBM deployed from a Barents Sea submarine. Long-range cruise missiles were also fired by Tu-95 strategic bombers as part of the drills. The Chief of the General Staff, Gen Valery Gerasimov, communicated to President Putin that the exercises simulated the critical ‘procedures for authorising the use of nuclear weapons.’ The postponement of the Trump-Putin meeting in Budapest was announced by President Trump, who expressed that the summit should not be a ‘waste of time,’ suggesting a need for better preparation. This decision followed diplomatic engagements, including discussions between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, where Russia’s opposition to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine was reiterated. Kremlin officials, via Dmitry Peskov, highlighted that both leaders value productive high-level meetings, which inherently demand thorough groundwork.
