Putin crony Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that more countries would get nuclear weapons in the coming years, blaming the West for pushing the world towards the brink of World War Three by waging a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.
Medvedev, who cast himself as a liberal moderniser when he was president from 2008-2012, now presents himself as an anti-Western Kremlin hawk.
Diplomats say his remarks give an indication of thinking at the top levels of the Kremlin elite.
In a post about the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty which he signed with then US President Barack Obama in Prague in 2010, Medvedev said the risk of nuclear conflict was at an all time high.
The treaty is due to expire in February 2026.
Referring to recent statements from the leaders of France and Britain about their nuclear arsenals, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council chastised European powers for what he said was sabre-rattling over their ‘meagre strategic capabilities’ and said the situation was fraught with danger.
‘The situation is such that even with the complete cessation of the conflict over so-called ‘Ukraine’ nuclear disarmament in the coming decades is impossible,’ Medvedev wrote on his official Telegram channel.
‘The world will create new, more destructive types of weapons, and new countries will acquire nuclear arsenals.’
A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is test-fired as part of Russia’s nuclear drills from a launch site in Plesetsk, northwestern Russia in October 2022
The Yars mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launcher moves to Red Square during the military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War on June 24, 2020 in Moscow, Russia
‘The situation is such that even with the complete cessation of the conflict over so-called Ukraine nuclear disarmament in the coming decades is impossible,’ Dmitry Medvedev (pictured) wrote
Russia and the United States are by far the world’s biggest nuclear powers, with about 88% of all nuclear weapons, followed by China, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
The thinktank last month warned that rogue nations have been quietly stockpiling more nuclear arms in the event of a potential showdown.
According to the data from the Federation of American Scientists, there is clear evidence that five nations have seen their nuclear stockpiles grow since 1986 – China (224 to 500), Pakistan (0 to 170), India (0 to 172), Israel (44 to 90), and North Korea (0 to 50).
The experts found that 2,100 American, Russian, British, and French ‘warheads are on high alert, ready for use on short notice.’
Since no country on Earth openly reveals exactly how many nuclear weapons they have in their arsenal, the team made an educated guess, which they note has become even harder to do in recent years.
To do this, FAS used publicly available information, historical records, and leaked data from government officials to compile their 2024 numbers.
However, scientists said governments are once again becoming tight-lipped about their nuclear secrets.
The first Trump Administration ended the total disclosure policy of America’s nuclear stockpile in 2019. It was a policy that had been in place since the Obama presidency in 2010.
Russia and the United States are by far the world’s biggest nuclear powers, with about 88% of all nuclear weapons
Vladimir Putin (pictured) controls one of the world’s largest nuclear stockpiles
Although the Biden Administration said they would restore the nation’s policy on nuclear transparency in 2021, researchers noted that the Biden White House immediately failed to declassify any US stockpile data for three straight years.
As of 2024, both the US and Russia are no longer exchanging data on their strategic warheads and launchers deployed around the world – even though this is mandated by the New START Treaty.
The agreement sought to increase US safety by placing limits on Russia’s deployed intercontinental nuclear weapons.
Overall, the think tank said that the US was still the most transparent nation when it comes to the size of their nuclear arsenal, noting that the country’s allies in Israel were the most secretive.
Another of America’s allies, the UK, has also stopped providing updates on their military’s nuclear stockpile – which researchers said sits at 225 warheads.
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