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By Ellie Cook
Senior Defense Reporter
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Russia said it has test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from a nuclear-powered submarine, shortly after a rare phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and two NATO leaders exposed a rift in European political unity.
A Bulava missile was fired from Russia's Generalissimo Suvorov ballistic missile submarine deployed in the Sea of Okhotsk, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Moscow's defense ministry said on Wednesday.
The Bulava ICBM has a touted range of more than 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) and, along with Russia's Borei-class ballistic missile submarines, are a key part of the Kremlin's strategy of deterring a nuclear strike on the country—or striking back if it comes under attack first. Each Borei-class submarine can carry up to 16 Bulava missiles.
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The missile was aimed toward the Chizha testing range in Russia's western Arkhangelsk Region, which looks out onto the White Sea, not far from NATO members Norway and Finland.
While Russia occasionally uses its elusive submarines to trial nuclear-capable missile launches, the latest test comes shortly after Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said they had spoken with Putin.
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The Nordic leaders "initiated the call" to discuss the Ukraine war and efforts to end the long-running conflict, including planned three-way talks between Moscow, Washington and Kyiv in Abu Dhabi next month, as well as Europe's broader security concerns, according to a readout published by the Finnish government.
The Kremlin said Norway and Finland had requested the conversation, during which Putin accused the European Union and NATO of drawing out the war through "confrontational policies."
Both countries are NATO members bordering Russia, rushing to build up their militaries and surge defense spending amid warnings from across the alliance Russia could attack NATO territory in the next few years.
Russia has long criticized European support for Ukraine, with Norway, Finland and Denmark among Kyiv's staunchest supporters.
But in an unusual public show of division among Nordic neighbors, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she was "very skeptical" about the phone call with the Russian leader and suggested little could be achieved by direct contact with the Kremlin.
"I think that we should keep Europe together instead of going solo," Frederiksen told Danish media.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called for "absolute caution and vigilance" in contact between European countries and Putin.
"Any contact with Russia must be backed by a united position," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said in a statement posted to social media. "Engaging with Putin one by one and without clear agenda has never worked for Europe. Not once."
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"I have quite low expectations for this type of conversation," added Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who said he had not been informed in advance of the discussion.
Stubb and Støre said they had "consulted thoroughly with all our partners" but did not act as spokespeople for Europe as a whole.
Communication with the Kremlin is a sore spot for a Europe keen to project a united front in the face of an unpredictable, scornful U.S. under President Donald Trump and White House overtures to the Kremlin.
When then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Putin in November 2024, Estonia called the move a "strategic mistake," while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the contact had opened "Pandora's box."
Stubb told reporters on Tuesday Helsinki "never talks about Ukraine over Ukraine's head" but insisted a peace deal would not be reached "through silence."
Zelensky said he was "grateful" to Stubb and Støre for a "detailed briefing" on the call, and Ukraine's top diplomat, Andrii Sybiha, said Ukraine had been kept in the loop.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Tobias Meyjes and Tony Phillips.
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