Putin directs drills of Russian nuclear forces as his Budapest summit with Trump is placed on maintain

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (October 22, 2025) directed drills of the nation’s strategic nuclear forces that featured apply missile launches, an train that got here as his deliberate summit on Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump was placed on maintain.

The Kremlin mentioned that as a part of the maneuvers involving all elements of Moscow’s nuclear triad, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was test-fired from the Plesetsk launch facility in northwestern Russia, and a Sineva ICBM was launched by a submarine within the Barents Sea. The drills additionally concerned Tu-95 strategic bombers firing long-range cruise missiles.

The train examined the talents of navy command buildings, the Kremlin mentioned in an announcement.

The chief of the navy’s General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, reported to Mr. Putin through video hyperlink that the drills have been meant to simulate “procedures for authorising the usage of nuclear weapons.”

While Mr. Putin emphasised that the maneuvers had been deliberate prematurely, they got here hours after President Donald Trump mentioned Tuesday (October 21) his plan for a swift assembly with Mr. Putin in Budapest was on maintain as a result of he did not need it to be a “waste of time.”

The resolution in regards to the assembly in Budapest, Hungary, which Mr. Trump had introduced final week, was made following a name Monday (October 20) between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Mr. Lavrov made clear in feedback Tuesday (October 21) that Russia is against a direct ceasefire in Ukraine. Mr. Trump, in the meantime, has been shifting his stance all 12 months on key points within the battle, together with whether or not a ceasefire ought to come earlier than longer-term peace talks, and whether or not Ukraine might win again land seized by Russia throughout nearly 4 years of combating.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday (October 22) emphasised that the deliberate Putin-Trump summit must be completely ready.

“No one needs to waste time: neither President Trump nor President Putin,” Mr. Peskov told reporters. “These are the 2 presidents who’re accustomed to working effectively with excessive productiveness. But effectiveness all the time requires preparation.”