Moscow said on Tuesday it had successfully tested the rs-28 sarmat, a new nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile, as a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine expired and both sides reported fresh fighting. Sergei Karakayev told Vladimir Putin that a successful test of the Sarmat strategic nuclear missile had been carried out.
Putin said Russia planned to put the Sarmat into combat duty by the end of 2026, though the missile could come into use later this year. The test landed on Monday morning as Ukraine’s military General Staff said 180 battlefield clashes had been recorded along the front line in the previous 24 hours.
The timing gave the launch a sharper edge. Donald Trump announced the three-day ceasefire last week, but Russia’s Defence Ministry said the ceasefire was complete and its forces had resumed combat operations. It also said its air defence systems had shot down 108 drones in the past 24 hours, underscoring how little room there was for any pause on the battlefield.
The missile test was reported as Moscow and Kyiv remained under pressure to show any path toward negotiations, with the United States and Europe both circling the conflict’s next stage. On Saturday, Putin told reporters he believed the war was “coming to an end” and said he would be open to negotiating new security terms with Europe, a message that sits uneasily beside a new strategic missile test and renewed strikes.
That tension sharpened further on Monday when Kaja Kallas rejected Putin’s suggestion that Gerhard Schröder could represent Europe in future talks with Moscow on European security arrangements. “If we give the right to Russia to appoint a negotiator on our behalf, you know, that would not be very wise,” she said, adding that Schröder “would be sitting on both sides of the table.”
For now, the test of the rs-28 sarmat reads less like a step toward de-escalation than a reminder of the arsenal Moscow is still prepared to showcase while talking about peace. The question is whether the ceasefire’s collapse, the battlefield violence and the competing diplomatic signals leave any space at all for the security talks Putin says he is willing to pursue.
