Russian President Vladimir Putin, after pulling out of the New START nuclear agreement with the United States, said Thursday Moscow will "focus on strengthening the nuclear triad" of land, air, and sea weapons.
"This year, the first Sarmat missile system launchers with the new heavy missile will be put on combat duty," Putin said Thursday, reported The Hill, quoting a transcript from the Kremlin. "We will continue full production of the Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic systems and begin mass deployment of Tsirkon sea-launched hypersonic missiles."
Further, the Russian leader said that "with the Borei-A nuclear-powered submarine Emperor Alexander III becoming operational in the Navy, the share of modern weapons and equipment in the naval strategic nuclear forces will reach 100 percent. In the coming years, three more cruisers from this project will be delivered to the Navy.”
Putin's statement comes one day before the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and a few days after he announced in his State of the Nation address that he was pulling Russia out of the Obama-era nuclear arms treaty.
President Joe Biden has called the treaty suspension a "big mistake," but also told ABC News that the United States does not have any indication that Putin is "thinking of using nuclear weapons or anything like that."
Putin, though, has made several threats involving nuclear weapons against Ukraine and the NATO allies that help it, including earlier this month, when he said he is prepared to use "more than just tanks" against NATO countries supporting Ukraine.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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