Russia may need to expand and upgrade its nuclear arsenal to counter the West, diplomat says

Russian Ambassador-at-Large Grigory Mashkov’s statements come after Russia vastly updated its nuclear doctrine.

By REUTERSJANUARY 30, 2025 16:41Updated: JANUARY 31, 2025 06:49

Russian President Vladimir Putin inspects the NICA Nuclotron-based ion collider facility as he visits the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in the Moscow region’s city of Dubna, Russia June 13, 2024.(photo credit: Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via REUTERS)

Russia may need to expand and upgrade its nuclear arsenal, already the world’s largest, to counter the threat it faces from the West, a Russian diplomat said in an article published on Thursday.

“In the emerging realities, it is no longer possible to talk about strategic (nuclear) stability in its classical bilateral context,” Russian Ambassador-at-Large Grigory Mashkov told International Affairs, a Russian journal.

He said an arms race was underway and that there were now various countries developing missile technology.

Arms race?

“It is possible that in the current conditions of confrontation with the West with its open policy of inflicting strategic damage on Russia, we may face the question of moving away from limiting nuclear and missile arsenals in favor of their quantitative and qualitative increase,” Mashkov said.

His statements come after Moscow updated its nuclear doctrine to state that any perceived attack on the country aided by a country with nuclear power is considered to be a joint attack on Russia.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin meets with young scientists as he visits the centre of the Rocket and Space Corporation ”Energia” in Korolyov outside Moscow, Russia, October 26, 2023. (credit: Sputnik/Grigory Sysoev/Pool via REUTERS)
This update means that Russia could potentially strike a country, such as Ukraine, with nuclear warheads if it uses conventional Western missiles.