Trump calls Russia’s nuclear-powered Burevestnik missile test inappropriate, says Putin must end war in Ukraine first

US President Donald Trump on Monday shot an advice to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as Moscow tested a nuclear-powered cruise missile.

Calling Russia’s missile test “inappropriate”, Donald Trump said Putin should instead end the war in Ukraine that has been going on for almost four years.

“He ought to get the war (in Ukraine) ended. A war that should have taken one week is now soon in its fourth year. That’s what he ought to do instead of testing missiles,” the US President told reporters aboard his Air Force One, as per a report by news agency AFP.

Trump’s comments come a day after Putin announced that Russia had tested a nuclear-capable and nuclear-powered cruise missile.

“I don’t think it’s an appropriate thing for Putin to be saying, either, by the way,” Trump said.

He appeared to warn Putin about a submarine that he claimed was stationed near Russia.

“They know we have a nuclear submarine, the greatest in the world, right off their shores, so I mean, it doesn’t have to go 8,000 miles,” Trump told reporters, according to an audio file posted by the White House.

Kremlin reacts

Reacting to Donald Trump’s comments, the Kremlin on Monday said Russia would be guided by its own national interests.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was nothing in the Burevestnik missile test that should strain relations with Washington.

Russia tests nuclear-powered cruise missile

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday said Moscow had successfully tested its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile.

The nuclear-capable weapon is virtually indestructible as it can pierce any defence shield, and will move towards deploying the weapon.

The 9M730 Burevestnik (Storm Petrel) had already flown for 14,000 kilometres, Russia said.

Putin called the new weapon “unique,” and said the missile’s class needed to be determined and infrastructure prepared so that it can be deployed. A large amount of work needed to be conducted before that could be done, Putin added.

The Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile has no analogues in the world, he said.

He ought to get the war (in Ukraine) ended. A war that should have taken one week is now soon in its fourth year.

Little is known about the Burevestnik, which was code-named Skyfall by NATO, and many Western experts have been skeptical about it, noting that a nuclear engine could be highly unreliable.

When Putin first revealed that Russia was working on the weapon in his 2018 state-of-the-nation address, he claimed it would have an unlimited range, allowing it to circle the globe undetected by missile defense systems.