Russia on Friday tested for the second time its new nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
A video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense on Twitter shows the Sarmat missile, intended to replace the Soviet-era Veovoda, being launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome spaceport.
На космодроме #Плесецк проведены очередные бросковые испытания новой жидкостной #МБР тяжёлого класса #Сармат, которая заменит ракеты #Воевода pic.twitter.com/xedqG7106E
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) March 30, 2018
Friday’s test comes just several months after its first test, carried out in late 2017.
Russian President Vladimir Putin first announced the new weapon, allegedly capable of reaching “any point in the world,” during his State of the Union address earlier this month.
Putin also claimed the Sarmat would render all U.S. missile defense systems “useless.”
Trump is reported to have called Putin’s remarks “irresponsible” during a phone call with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May.
The test follows a phone call between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump this month in which Trump proposed a summit to discuss what he described as the current “arms race.”
“I had a call with President Putin and congratulated him on the victory, his electoral victory,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “The call had to do also with the fact that we will probably get together in the not too distant future so that we can discuss arms, we can discuss the arms race.”
Trump: “I had a call with President Putin and congratulated him on the victory, his electoral victory…we had a very good call and I suspect that we’ll probably be meeting in the not too distant future to discuss the arms race” pic.twitter.com/tLRc7eNV5F
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) March 20, 2018
The Sarmat’s launch also comes as tensions between the U.S. and Russia reach levels not seen since the Cold War.
Over 100 Russian diplomats from more than 20 countries have been expelled following the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in Britain.
As part of the expulsions, the Trump administration kicked out 60 diplomats from the United States in addition to closing the Russian consulate in Seattle.
Russia has denied any involvement in the attack on its former spy.
Russia’s foreign ministry announced Friday it would give Britain one month to reduce the number of its diplomats in Moscow to the same level as Russians in Britain.
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