Russia Conducts Nuclear Drills as Putin-Trump Summit on Ukraine Conflict Faces Delay

Russian President Vladimir Putin supervised strategic nuclear forces drills on Wednesday that included practice missile launches, an exercise that coincided with the postponement of his planned summit with US President Donald Trump regarding Ukraine.

According to the Kremlin, the comprehensive exercises incorporated all elements of Moscow's nuclear triad. A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was test-fired from the Plesetsk launch facility in northwestern Russia, while a submarine in the Barents Sea launched a Sineva ICBM. The maneuvers also featured Tu-95 strategic bombers launching long-range cruise missiles.

The Kremlin statement indicated that the drills were conducted to evaluate the readiness of military command structures.

General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the military's General Staff, reported to Putin via video link that the exercises were designed to "practice procedures for authorizing the use of nuclear weapons."

Putin observed the proceedings from a round white table, viewing large screens displaying Gerasimov and Defence Minister Andrei Belousov. These three officials would be responsible for launching nuclear weapons in a conflict scenario.

While Putin emphasized that these exercises had been scheduled in advance, they occurred shortly after President Trump announced on Tuesday that his proposed meeting with Putin in Budapest was delayed because he didn't want it to be a "waste of time."

The decision to postpone the Budapest meeting, which Trump had announced the previous week, followed a conversation on Monday between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

In statements made Tuesday, Lavrov clearly expressed Russia's opposition to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Trump has been modifying his position throughout the year on key aspects of the conflict, including whether a ceasefire should precede longer-term peace negotiations, and whether Ukraine could reclaim territories seized by Russia during nearly four years of fighting.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed on Wednesday that the planned Putin-Trump summit requires thorough preparation.

"No one wants to waste time: neither President Trump nor President Putin," Peskov told reporters. "These are the two presidents who are accustomed to working efficiently with high productivity. But effectiveness always requires preparation."