Trump calls for expansion of U.S. nuke arsenal

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has called for strengthening and expansion of American nuclear capability.

"The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nuke," Trump tweeted on Thursday.

The President-elect's remarks has sparked fears about a new global nuclear arms race and came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to enhance his country's nuclear forces, reports the CNN.

It was not immediately clear if the President-elect is proposing an entire new nuclear policy or plans to modernize the aging US nuclear arsenal.

Later, Trump's communications director Jason Miller issued a statement explaining the President-elect's tweet on nuclear capability.

The statement said that Trump was "referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation and the critical need to prevent it," although that was not referenced in the tweet.

He also said Trump was emphasizing the need to "modernize our deterrent capability."

In Moscow earlier Tuesday, Putin said in a speech that Russia needs to "enhance the combat capability of strategic nuclear forces, primarily by strengthening missile complexes that will be guaranteed to penetrate existing and future missile defence systems.