Just days after President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow released videos of its new strategic weapons, most of which the U.S. cannot currently defend against.
The videos from the Kremlin’s Ministry of Defense that went live Thursday appear to show a hypersonic air-to-ground missile, a new intercontinental ballistic missile, a nuclear-powered missile with unlimited range, and a hypersonic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead, as well as a few other systems.
The weapons displayed in the videos are a significant addition to the Kremlin’s arsenal, which already has more nuclear weapons than other countries, according to estimates. The latest revelations of Moscow’s development of hypersonic weapons has sparked new fears over a budding arms race.
Trump and Putin met Monday in Helsinki, where they discussed, among other issues, working to stem the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Both leaders lauded the meeting as a success and have said they want to continue their dialogue, even as the summit drew withering condemnations from across the global political spectrum. Trump extended an invitation to Putin to visit Washington this fall.
However, it is unclear whether Trump addressed Putin’s sprint to deploy this new breed of weapon when the two leaders metearlier this week. Prior to the highly anticipated summit, Trump insisted the two leaders meet early in the day without any aides present — stirring concerns that Putin, a former KGB officer, would outflank his American counterpart.
In March, the Russian leader touted his nation’s hypersonic weapons as “invincible” during a state of the nation address.
“I want to tell all those who have fueled the arms race over the last 15 years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced unlawful sanctions aimed to contain our country’s development: You have failed to contain Russia,” Putin said during his address.
Of the six weapons Putin debuted in March, CNBC has learned that two of them will be ready for war by 2020, according to sources with direct knowledge of U.S. intelligence reports.