Russia Says Winning Arms Race Against U.S.

Date: 13 August 2019 - 22:02

News ID: ۶۹۳۰۰

MOSCOW (Reuters) -- The Kremlin said on Tuesday it was winning the race to develop new cutting edge nuclear weapons despite a mysterious rocket accident last week in northern Russia that caused a temporary spike in radiation levels.
Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear agency, has said that the Aug. 8 accident occurred during a rocket test on a sea platform in the White Sea, killing at least five and injuring three more.
It has pledged to keep developing new weapons regardless, portraying the men who died in the test as heroes.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Monday the United States was "learning much” from the explosion which he suggested happened during the testing of a nuclear-powered cruise missile vaunted by President Vladimir Putin last year.
Russia, which has said the missile will have an "unlimited range” and be able to overcome any defenses, calls the missile the 9M730 Burevestnik (Storm Petrel). The NATO alliance has designated it the SSC-X-9 Skyfall.
Trump said on Twitter that the United States had "similar, though more advanced, technology” and claimed Russians were worried about the air quality around the facility and far beyond, a situation he described as "Not good!”
But when asked about his comments on Tuesday, the Kremlin said it, not the United States, was out in front when it came to developing new nuclear weapons.
"Our president has repeatedly said that Russian engineering in this sector significantly outstrips the level that other countries have managed to reach for the moment, and it is fairly unique,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Putin used his state-of-the nation speech in 2018 to unveil what he described as a raft of invincible new nuclear weapons, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile, an underwater nuclear-powered drone, and a laser weapon.
Tensions between Moscow and Washington over arms control have been exacerbated by the demise this month of a landmark nuclear treaty. Russia says it is also concerned that another landmark arms control treaty will soon expire.
Russian fighter jets pushed away a NATO war plane after it tried to approach Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s plane over neutral waters in the Baltic Sea, TASS news agency reported Tuesday.
The plane was flying from Kaliningrad to Moscow and was carrying a TASS reporter on board, the report said.