The announced launch of the (ICBM) Minuteman III went ahead earlier, making the first test of a missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads since President Trump called for the resumption of nuclear weapons tests.
According to the relevant announcement of the US Air Force Global Strike Command, the nuclear-capable GT 254 missile was launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, with the test taking place without any problems. According to reports, Moscow had been informed in advance of the launch.
The unarmed missile crashed near the Army’s Ronald Reagan Defense Ballistic Missile Test Range in the Marshall Islands.
to begin testing US nuclear weapons for the first time in more than thirty years.
What are the Minutemen III
The Minuteman III missile arsenal is one of the components of America’s “doomsday” nuclear deterrent and is intended to be used only in response to a nuclear attack by an enemy country.
The launch comes at a time when Trump’s statements about resuming nuclear tests by the US have provoked reactions from both China and Russia.
What had come before
Just the day before yesterday, Donald Trump had returned to the question of testing in an interview with CBS – following his post on Truth Social, in which he informed that although he does not want it, “the US will start testing nuclear weapons on an equal basis with other countries” – and he clarified that: “I said we will test nuclear weapons like other countries do, yes. Russia is testing and China is testing, they don’t come out and say it. They don’t announce it. I don’t want us to be the only country that doesn’t test.” Trump also put North Korea and Pakistan on the same list.
To this report by Trump, China had responded, through the mouth of the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, who had stated that: “As a responsible nuclear power, China has always supported a nuclear self-defense strategy and kept its commitment to suspend its nuclear tests. China hopes that the US will take concrete measures to safeguard the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, but also to maintain global strategic balance and stability.”
Accordingly, the Russian leadership also intervened today on the issue, with Vladimir Putin also playing the nuclear test card.
Trump is talking about a denuclearization plan after all this
After all this, however, US President Donald Trump appeared rather willing to “collect” the impact of the statements he made, claiming that he might be working with Russia and China on a denuclearization plan.
Speaking at a business forum in Miami, Trump said, among other things: “We’ve retooled our nuclear — we’re the No. 1 nuclear power, which I hate to admit because it’s terrible.” He then said: “Russia is second and China is a distant third, but they will catch up to us within the next four or five years.”
“Possibly working on a denuclearization plan, the three of us. We will see if it will work,” added the American president.
