Risk of using nuclear weapons, ‘greatest in decades’ : think tank

The global nuclear arsenal is expected to grow in the coming years for the first time since the Cold War while the risk of such weapons being used is the greatest in decades, leading conflict and armaments think tank-Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said on Monday.   

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Western support for Kyiv has heightened tensions among the world’s 9 nuclear-armed states, the think tank said in a new set of research.  

“All of the nuclear-armed states are increasing or upgrading their arsenals and most are sharpening nuclear rhetoric and the role nuclear weapons play in their military strategies,” Director of SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme, Wilfred Wan said  

 “This is a very worrying trend.” he added. An estimated 3,732 warheads were deployed with missiles and aircraft, and around 2,000 — nearly all belonging to Russia or the US are reported to be kept in a state of high readiness.  

Russia has the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal with a total of 5,977 warheads, some 550 more than the United States. The two countries possess more than 90 per cent of the world’s warheads, though SIPRI said China was in the middle of an expansion with an estimated more than 300 new missile silos. Three days after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin put Russia’s nuclear deterrent on high alert.  

Wan also warned of consequences that would be “such as you have never seen in your entire history” for countries that stood in Russia’s way.  
Sweden June 13 
Dawn.com