Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Western support for Kyiv have escalated tensions between the world’s nine nuclear-armed nations, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) thinktank said on Monday in a new series of surveys. While the number of nuclear weapons fell slightly between January 2021 and January 2022, Sipri said that unless immediate action was taken by the nuclear powers, global warheads could soon begin to grow for the first time in decades. “All nuclear-armed states are increasing or upgrading their arsenals, and most are sharpening nuclear rhetoric and the role that nuclear weapons play in their military strategies,” Wilfred Wan, director of Sipri’s weapons of mass destruction program, told thinktank’s 2022. annual calendar. “This is a very worrying trend.” Three days after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a “special military operation,” President Vladimir Putin has put Russia’s nuclear deterrent on high alert. He also warned of the consequences “as you have never seen in your entire history” for countries that have stood in the way of Russia. Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal with a total of 5,977 warheads, 550 more than the United States. The two countries have more than 90% of the world’s missile warheads, although Sipri said China was in the middle of an expansion with more than 300 new missile silos, according to the latest estimate. Sipri said the global number of nuclear warheads fell from 13,080 in January 2021 to 12,705 in January 2022. It is estimated that 3,732 warheads were developed with missiles and aircraft and about 2,000 – almost all belonging to Russia or the United States – remained in high condition. . “Relations between the world’s great powers have deteriorated further at a time when humanity and the planet face a number of profound and pressing common challenges that can only be addressed through international cooperation,” said Sipri, a former board member. Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Lφfven.
