(MENAFN) The European Union on Thursday stated that Russia and the US "should not be put in the same basket" regarding the recent controversies surrounding nuclear missile tests, stressing Moscow’s ongoing assaults on Ukraine.

During a midday briefing at the European Commission in Brussels, spokesperson Anitta Hipper addressed reports that Russia had recently tested its nuclear-powered, unlimited-range cruise missile Burevestnik.

"We have also seen the announcement, which is obviously not going in the right direction. This is a country that is conducting an illegal, unjustified, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine," Hipper remarked.

She cautioned that if the missile is genuinely nuclear-powered, it "could also release radioactive materials," and emphasized that the trial "shows once more that instead of choosing peace, Russia is continuing to escalate through its actions and rhetoric."

When questioned about former President Trump’s recent comments pledging to resume nuclear weapons testing for the first time since the 1990s, Hipper refrained from giving a detailed response, saying: "We refer you to them on the other side. We have not seen the US conducting any explosive test of its nuclear weapons in decades."

Earlier the same day, Trump declared on his social media platform Truth Social that he had instructed the Department of Defense to begin immediate nuclear weapons testing.

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