Trump says Putin should focus on ending war in Ukraine instead of testing missiles

Following the Russian military’s announcement that it had successfully tested its new Burevestnik intercontinental nuclear missile, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Monday that Vladimir Putin should focus on ending the war in Ukraine rather than testing missiles.

Trump said Moscow should know that the United States had “a nuclear submarine, the greatest in the world, right off their shore”, adding that any US missile wouldn’t “have to go 8,000 miles”, a reference to the Burevestnik’s unprecedented range.

“They’re not playing games with us,” Trump said, adding “We’re not playing games with them either. We test missiles all the time,” before berating the Russian leader for such war games. “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,” Trump said as he flew from Malaysia to the Japanese capital Tokyo.

Following the successful test of the Burevestnik, Putin called the new intercontinental nuclear missile a “unique product that nobody else in the world possesses”, adding that the successful test had “once again proved the reliability of Russia’s nuclear shield”.

The fresh test launch came after a high-level summit between Putin and US President Donald Trump in Budapest was cancelled last week after Russia’s reported demands for total control over Ukraine’s Donbas region as a precondition for any peace deal. “I’m going to have to know that we’re going to make a deal. I’m not going to be wasting my time,” Trump told reporters on Saturday.