Last September, President Vladimir Putin proposed that Russia and the U.S. extend the New START for an additional year in order to advance negotiations on a new nuclear-weapons control agreement. U.S. President Donald Trump later responded that this was a “good idea”.
The full name of New START is the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, and it remains the only agreement between Moscow and Washington on nuclear weapons. The treaty was signed by Russia and the U.S. in 2010, took effect in 2011, and was extended by five years in 2021, shortly after Joe Biden assumed office. The treaty is scheduled to expire on February 5, 2026.
However, apparently things are changing. President Putin last week said that on October 28 Russia successfully tested the super-torpedo Poseidon powered by nuclear energy. According to Putin, the Poseidon torpedo travels faster than a submarine, can reach every continent on the planet, and “has no means of interception”.
On October 21, the Russian Ministry of Defence also test-fired a new nuclear-powered cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, known as Burevestnik, which President Putin described as “invincible”.
These are two of the “super-weapons” that President Putin announced in his 2018 State of the Nation address in March. At that time he said they were designed to pierce American missile-defence systems, helping Moscow maintain its super-power status and strategic balance with Washington.
The Russian military says that in the test the Burevestnik missile flew 14,000 km in about 15 hours thanks to a nuclear-powered engine. Russia describes the weapon as having virtually unlimited range and an unpredictable flight path, making it impossible for an adversary to respond.
Meanwhile, the Poseidon torpedo is likewise equipped with a nuclear engine, enabling it to travel at up to 130 km/h at a depth of more than one kilometre without detection. The torpedo has an operational range of about 10,000 km, sufficient to cross the North Atlantic, approach enemy territory at great depth, and detonate a 2-megaton nuclear warhead.
This warhead is equivalent in destructive power to two million tons of TNT; in theory it could generate a radioactive tsunami aimed at a coastal city, a carrier strike group or the nearest naval base of the adversary. Many analysts believe that the timing of Russia’s announcement of the successful tests of both weapons is not coincidental, as relations between Moscow and Washington have recently grown strained. Trump had cancelled a planned summit with Putin in Hungary and announced sanctions on two Russian oil giants, Rosneft and Lukoil.
Andras Racz, a senior fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations, argued that by the two “super-weapon” tests Putin is sending the message that Russia possesses formidable nuclear power and that the U.S. needs to recognise and respect that, and accept sitting at the negotiating table. This message is based on the “on the brink of war” policy that Moscow historically used with Washington since the Cold War, when the Soviet Union repeatedly stressed that negotiation was necessary rather than optional for the two major nuclear powers.
Russia has also recently asserted that all efforts to isolate the country—including the new U.S. sanctions on the two Russian oil companies—are bound to fail.
“What they’re trying to say is: you should not sanction us in any way you like, because we are a major nuclear power and you need to negotiate,” Racz said.
Trump returned to the White House determined to end the Ukraine conflict. However, so far every effort, including a summit with Putin in Alaska in mid-August, appears not to have brought the expected results.
Russia meanwhile has not yet been able to turn talks with the U.S. into economic, energy and nuclear negotiation opportunities that they hoped would yield a “favourable deal” for Moscow.
“The field where Russia has an equal position with the U.S. is clearly nuclear weapons. So to gain leverage, they must bring nuclear into the deal,” Racz said.
Putin has repeatedly stressed Russia’s nuclear strength since launching the campaign in Ukraine in late February 2022. He declared a willingness to use “all measures” to defend Russia’s security interests.
Vladimir M. Dzhabarov, Vice-Chair of the Russian Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview last week that the super-weapon tests have shown Western leaders they must cooperate with Moscow.
“We have shown a desire to sit down at the negotiating table with the West, to end confrontation and begin listening to each other. Because with a weapon like Burevestnik in our arsenal, Russia is essentially invincible,” Dzhabarov said.
Dzhabarov referred to the demands the Kremlin had made before launching the Ukraine campaign and said that the West needs to accept the idea that “perhaps it is time to listen to Russia’s arguments”. President Putin also earlier this week approved a decision of the Russian parliament to withdraw from the 2000 agreement with the U.S., under which both sides agreed to eliminate their Cold War-era weapons-grade plutonium reserves. The Russian lawmakers explained that “the recent steps against Russia have fundamentally changed the strategic balance”.
Although President Putin stated his willingness to continue negotiations with Trump over a potential Ukraine solution, he described the new U.S. sanctions on the two Russian oil firms as “unfriendly actions” that will harm the relationship. He warned that Russia will not be intimidated. “This is an attempt to pressure Russia,” he said.
The Kremlin leader also warned that any attempt by Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory using long-range weapons supplied by the West will result in “a very serious, if not astonishing, response”. Three days later, he donned military uniform and received a briefing on the successful Burevestnik missile test.
However, it remains unclear whether Russia’s warning message to the U.S. has been effective. After Putin’s announcement of the new weapons tests, the U.S. President on October 30 declared that the country will resume nuclear-weapon testing “on an equal basis”, after having suspended tests since 1992.