Putin visits home of USSR’s nuclear weapons program after Trump hints at allowing ‘Ukrainian offense’

In an apparent response to Donald Trump hinting that his administration might allow Ukraine to “fight back” by attacking Russia itself, Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit Friday to Sarov. The city, located in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, has long been associated with nuclear weapons research. The escalating rhetoric from the U.S. and Russian presidents comes just a week after the two leaders met in Alaska and appeared to agree on the broad contours of a peace settlement in Ukraine.

Sarov — once known as Arzamas-16 and still off-limits to most outsiders — is where Soviet scientists designed the USSR’s first atomic bomb. Putin, who last visited the city in September 2023, was greeted on the tarmac by senior military leaders, including Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s General Staff. According to state media, Putin’s itinerary in Sarov included talks with nuclear experts, a workforce training exhibition, and a meeting with the region’s governor, Gleb Nikitin.

Following an August 18 summit at the White House, President Trump indicated that Moscow had agreed to two direct meetings between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. However, the Kremlin clarified in subsequent days that its conditions for these meetings — which include Kyiv’s capitulation to Russian demands — remain unchanged. On Thursday, August 21, Trump posted a photograph of himself looming over Putin and wagging his finger, along with a similar image of Richard Nixon doing the same to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Minutes later, he suggested that the U.S. might let Ukraine “fight back” to avert a Russian victory.