Putin Orders Nuclear Test Proposals Amid US and China Nuclear Escalation

Putin Orders Nuclear Testing Proposals

• 🇷🇺 Vladimir Putin has directed his government to develop proposals for the resumption of nuclear weapons testing.
• 🇺🇸 This directive follows a similar order from President Trump for the Pentagon to resume US nuclear weapons testing.

Expert Analysis on Nuclear Deterrence

• 💡 A Japanese nuclear weapons expert, Narushi Mishta, views the US move as a serious effort to bolster nuclear deterrence.
• 🌍 However, he also notes the ongoing global effort to create a world without nuclear weapons.

Potential Nuclear Scenarios

• ⚠️ Mishta suggests that if Putin were to deploy a nuclear weapon in the Ukraine conflict, it would likely be over the Black Sea to coerce Ukraine into surrender.
• 🇨🇳 Regarding China, Mishta's top concern is an invasion of Taiwan, with President Xi Jinping potentially detonating a nuclear bomb near Okinawa to intimidate Japan.

Global Nuclear Arsenal Disparities

• 📊 The US, Russia, and China possess the largest nuclear arsenals, but Mishta believes the US is currently at a disadvantage and trying to catch up.
• 🎯 The focus is shifting towards tactical nuclear weapons (lower yield, targeted strikes) rather than strategic, city-destroying weapons.
• 📈 The US has an estimated 200 tactical nuclear weapons, while Russia may have close to 2,000.

Recent Nuclear-Related Tests

• 🚀 Russia has been testing delivery platforms, including a nuclearpowered torpedo and a new cruise missile.
• 🇺🇸 The US recently launched a nuclearcapable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
• 🔬 US Energy Secretary downplayed these tests, stating they would not involve explosions, and Mishta noted that many tests can be conducted in laboratories.
• 🕊️ Mishta urged that the world must never use nuclear weapons again and should pray for peace, marking 80 years since the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.