“Both countries are choking on nuclear weapons.”
Weapons arsenal
In 2010, the United States and Russia agreed on a maximum of 1,550 nuclear warheads per country. “That number is actually much higher,” Wijninga says. Russia alone possesses about 6,000 nuclear weapons. By comparison, Joe Biden is said to control about 5,500 nuclear weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists. “Both countries are choking on nuclear weapons.”
After the treaty is suspended, will Putin now use these backup weapons? According to Wijninga, this possibility is slim: ‘First of all, the treaty has not been terminated, but is only temporarily invalid. Secondly, the use of other weapons would be immediately detected by American and British satellite images.
Bluff poker
Is Putin’s action just bluff poker? Not really, says Wijninga. ‘Now there are hundreds of thousands of victims, without really achieving anything. His speech therefore demonstrates that the threat of nuclear weapons is the only alternative.’ Furthermore, this message is also primarily intended for the grassroots, where criticism is gradually mounting.
So what are the chances of Americans responding to this threat? American weapons must be modernized. Even Putin knows it. To achieve this, for example, they would have to carry out test explosions. The chances of that happening are slim because the United States has been trying to avert a new arms race since the end of the Cold War. However, according to Wijninga, Putin’s provocation will have little effect: “I don’t think the Americans will respond to this.”