In an end of year press conference in 2017, President Putin was asked whether Russia would step in to help with US-North Korea missile talks, as Washington tried to negotiate for denuclearisation in Pyongyang. While making a scathing assessment on President Trump’s efforts in talks, Mr Putin also lambasted the US for the 1945 strikes on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
He said: “The United States has already used nuclear weapons against Japan. I do not believe it was justified.
“Now there is absolutely no need for this. It is important to be very careful.”
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki occured on the August 6 and August 9, 1945, and preceeded Japan’s surrender on August 15.
The devastating strikes killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people overall, most of whom were civilians.
Over the next two to four months, the effects of the atomic bombings killed between 90,000 and 146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000 and 80,000 people in Nagasaki.
The surrender by Japan effectively ended World War 2, and the use of the two nuclear bombs remain the only uses of such weapons in armed conflict.
However, Mr Putin spent most of him time addressing the issue of North Korea, appearing to hint that he saw the US as hypocritical in its handling of the negotiations with Kim Jong-un.
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US-North Korea nuclear talks have continued to stall as President Trump struggles to find a breakthrough, leading to the breakdown of meetings and increased nuclear testing from Pyongyang.
In November, the North Korean government fumed at the US for embarking on joint military exercise with South Korea, with one figure stating that the Washington “screwed up” talks.
They said: “We explicitly defined the joint military drill being planned by the US and South Korea as a main factor of screwing up tensions of the Korean peninsula and the region out of control.
“Despite our repeated warnings, the US and the South Korean side decided to push ahead with the military drill hostile to the DPRK at the most sensitive time.”
As talks continue to stall, it appears the legacy of Hiroshima is still leaving some countries resistant to US denuclearisation efforts.