Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], October 27 : US President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed reports of Russia testing a nuclear-powered missile stating that the US also had nuclear submarines located close to Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had yesterday in his address to the Federal Assembly (Russia's bicameral parliament) stated that Moscow had developed a small-sized nuclear power unit that could be used in a cruise missile to extend its range practically indefinitely. According to Putin, this would be a low-flying missile with unpredictable trajectory, TASS reported.
The missile's development kicked off after the United States withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in December 2001, the Russian official media reported.
Putin was cited as saying that the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile has no analogues in the world. He said Moscow had successfully tested teh weapon and will work towards deploying it. Russian officials claim it remained airborne for about 15 hours and covered about 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles).
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said, "They know we have a nuclear submarine, the greatest in the world, right off their shore."
"So I mean, it doesn't have to go 8,000 miles, and they're not playing games with us, we're not playing games with them either. We test missiles all the time, " Trump said.
"And I don't think it's an appropriate thing for Putin to be saying either, by the way," the US President said.
Further referring to the Russian-Ukraine conflict, Trump said, "He ought to get the war ended, a war that should have taken one week is now in its fourth year, that's what he ought to do instead of testing missiles."
White House earlier last week placed sanctions on two of Russia's largest oil companies -Rosneft and Lukoil, along with dozens of subsidiaries. The European Union also on Wednesday unanimously approved its 19th package of sanctions against Russia.
Meanwhile after participating in the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, Trump on Monday afternoon landed in Tokyo for meetings with emperor and new prime minister Sanae Takaichi.
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