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,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said 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.
“It has the ability to penetrate all existing and future anti-missile defence systems,” he said.
Putin had repeatedly said the missile would be deployed by the end of the year since its first test in 2022, but those plans had yet to materialise.
State TV showed Sergei Karakayev, commander of Russia’s strategic missile forces, reporting to Putin on what he said was a successful Sarmat test-launch on Tuesday.
“The deployment of launchers equipped with the Sarmat missile system will significantly enhance the combat capabilities of the ground-based strategic nuclear forces in terms of guaranteeing the destruction of targets and solving strategic deterrence problems,” Karakayev said.
The Kremlin said it had notified the United States of the launch, the state news agency Tass reported.
Even though Moscow and Washington agreed to re-establish high-level military dialogue shortly after New Start expired, there were no immediate signs of renewing or prolonging it.
US President Donald 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.” (Agencies)
