Russia warns against “colossal threats”, promises nuclear capacity updates

Russia’s highest nuclear official this week said Moscow faced “colossal threats” and had to update his nuclear capacities.

Without namely directly named the main nuclear threat of Russia, the director general of the State Atomic Energy Corporation, Rosatom Alexei Likhachev, said: “The current geopolitical situation, is a period of colossal threats to the existence of our country.”

“Consequently, the nuclear shield, which is also a sword, is a guarantee of our sovereignty,” he added, according to the Russian news agency Ria. “We understand today that the nuclear shield should only be improved in the years to come.”

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Russian president Vladimir Putin meets the director general of La Russian Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Alexey Likhachev at the residence of the state of Novo-Oogaryovo outside Moscow on May 19, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev / Spoutnik / AFP via Getty Images)

The comments occurred less than a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump met for a face -to -face meeting that marked the first time that an American chief met the Kremlin chief since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

While Trump and Putin seemed positive following talks, little did not seem concretely accomplished during the meeting and the hope surrounding a ceasefire in Russia-Ukraine seemed to decline over the week.

We do not know why Likhachev published comments on the Nuclear Program of Russia at present, and he has not detailed the type of updates he would seek to perform on the “Shield” program in Moscow.

Trump published similar comments earlier this year when in May, he announced his intention to develop the “Golden Dome” anti -missile defense system – inspired by the “Iron Dome” defense system of Israel – and which should cost at least $ 175 billion.

Although security experts seemed to be the alarm for climbing nuclear development in China, together Russia and the United States continue to have 90% of the global nuclear arsenal.

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The image shows the data of the Federation of American Scientists indicating that there are 12,331 nuclear weapons in 2025. (Federagraphic by Visual Capitalist via Getty Images)

Moscow continues to hold nearly 4,400 nuclear warheads, including more than 1,500 “strategically deployed” while the United States has more than 3,700 warheads in its stocks with 1,400 deployed, according to the Arms Control Association.

While nuclear disarmament was the permanent international objective after the end of the Cold War, the trajectory of this policy remains doubtful because relations between Washington and Moscow have again become precarious in the middle of the Putin war in Ukraine, and its booming relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The new departure treaty remains the only bilateral nuclear weapons control agreement between the United States and Russia, and although it was extended in 2021, it should expire in February 2026. The future of the treaty – signed for the first time in 2010 – also remains unclear because Moscow has paused for its participation in the agreement in 2023.

Russian military vehicles, including launchers of intercontinental ballistic missiles Yars, roll on the Red Square during the military parade of the day of victory in the center of Moscow on May 9, 2024. (Alexander Nemenov / AFP via Getty Images)

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Putin said that this suspension meant that he would continue to respect the limits of stocks under the treaty, but it would not allow continuous American inspections.

Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to comment, because the nations are increasingly looking to extend their nuclear capacities only six months before the new departure treaty should expire.