Rome, 22 October (LaPresse) – Russian strategic nuclear forces conducted a training exercise under the guidance of President Vladimir Putin, who was connected via video conference, according to the Kremlin. ‘All tasks were completed,’ the statement said. The exercise involved the army's land, sea and air components. In his speech, Putin, before handing over to Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, specified that this was a ‘scheduled training exercise’. During the exercise, according to Tass, intercontinental ballistic missiles and air-launched cruise missiles were fired. The Kremlin stated that as part of today's manoeuvres, which involved all components of Moscow's nuclear triad, a test launch of a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was carried out from the Plesetsk base in north-western Russia, while a Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from a submarine in the Barents Sea. The exercises also involved Tu-95 strategic bombers, which launched long-range cruise missiles. The exercise tested the capabilities of military command structures, the Kremlin said. Army Chief of Staff General Valery Gerasimov reported to Putin via video link that the exercises were intended to simulate ‘procedures for authorising the use of nuclear weapons’. Putin stressed that the manoeuvres had been planned for some time, but they came just hours after US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his plan for a quick meeting with Putin in Budapest was on hold because he did not want it to be a ‘waste of time’. Developments regarding the meeting in Budapest, Hungary, announced by Trump last week, came after a phone call on Monday between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The latter made it clear on Tuesday that Russia is opposed to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. Trump, for his part, has changed his position over the course of the year on key issues in the conflict, including the need for a ceasefire before long-term peace negotiations and the possibility for Ukraine to regain territories occupied by Russia during nearly four years of fighting. Today, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that preparations for a Trump-Putin summit take time. ‘No one wants to waste time: neither President Trump nor President Putin,’ Peskov said.