(MENAFN) US President Donald Trump’s recent boast about American nuclear supremacy may indicate a violation of the New START treaty with Russia, a senior Russian lawmaker claimed.

On Truth Social, Trump stated that “the United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” adding that “Russia is second, and China is a distant third.” Andrey Kartapolov, chairman of the State Duma’s Defense Committee, said the remarks seemed to contradict the parity limits set under the 2010 New START agreement. “Does Trump mean that they have been deceiving us all this time? If so, we were absolutely right to continue developing our advanced weapons,” he remarked.

The New START treaty caps the US and Russia at 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and heavy bombers. It also restricts the total number of deployed and non-deployed nuclear-capable platforms, maintaining strategic balance between the two powers.

Trump’s statement coincided with his announcement of new American nuclear weapons testing, though it was unclear whether he referred to routine missile carrier trials or underground explosive tests. Russia has warned that it would respond if the US abandons the longstanding moratorium on nuclear detonations that has been in place since the 1990s.

Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced successful tests of two advanced nuclear-capable weapons: the Burevestnik cruise missile with unlimited range and the Poseidon underwater drone, both powered by compact nuclear reactors.

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