00:19Putin just put nuclear weapons back at the center of global politics.
00:25In a video address marking Defender of the Fatherland Day,
00:29Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a message that wasn't just ceremonial.
00:35It was strategic, and it was pointed.
00:52Putin declared that strengthening Russia's nuclear forces,
00:55specifically its nuclear triad, is now an absolute priority.
01:00That triad includes land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles,
01:05submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers.
01:09In other words, the full spectrum of nuclear delivery.
01:13He said this build-up is essential to guarantee Russia's security,
01:17to maintain strategic deterrence,
01:19and to preserve what he calls the global balance of power.
01:23But this speech comes at a moment when that balance is already under strain.
01:28Putin also promised to modernize Russia's army and navy,
01:32drawing lessons from what he still calls the special military operation in Ukraine.
01:36He framed the war as a testing ground,
01:39a laboratory for high-tech domestic weapons production.
01:43And he praised Russian troops as patriots defending national sovereignty.
01:47But here's the bigger story.
01:49For the first time since 1972,
01:52there are no binding nuclear arms control treaties between the United States and Russia.
01:57The New START Treaty, signed in 2010 and extended in 2021, expired on February 5, 2026.
02:05It had capped deployed strategic warheads at 1550 each and limited launchers to 700.
02:12Just as important, it allowed for inspections, data exchanges, transparency.
02:17Those inspections stopped during COVID.
02:20Russia suspended participation in 2023.
02:23And now, there are no legal limits.
02:25As of early 2025 estimates, Russia has over 4,300 nuclear warheads.
02:31About 1550 were deployed under previous limits.
02:34The United States has around 3,700.
02:37And without a treaty, both sides can upload more warheads onto existing missiles quickly.
02:42No new missiles required.
02:44This is how arms races quietly begin.
02:47Not with explosions, but with worst-case planning.
02:51If one side assumes the other might expand, it expands first.
02:54And it's not just Washington and Moscow.
02:57China is in the middle of its fastest nuclear expansion ever.
03:01Its arsenal has grown from around 200 warheads in 2019 to more than 600 by late 2025,
03:07with projections of 1,000 by 2030.
03:09New silos, new submarines, low-yield weapons.
03:13Beijing maintains a no-first-use policy, but it has refused to join arms control talks,
03:18arguing its arsenal is still smaller than those of the U.S. and Russia.
03:21Then there's North Korea.
03:23On February 22, 2026, Kim Jong-An was re-elected as reader of the Workers' Party.
03:29State media celebrated his nuclear buildup as central to national strength.
03:32Pyongyang has unveiled dozens of tactical nuclear-capable systems.
03:36It is developing submarine technology, and it is deepening ties with Russia.
03:41Estimates suggest around 50 warheads, with material for dozens more.
03:44And in the Middle East, the U.S. and Iran remain locked in high-stakes tensions over Tehran's nuclear program.
03:51Iran has enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels.
03:53The U.S. has increased military presence.
03:56Threats and diplomacy are moving in parallel, which is often when things become most unstable.
04:00So what does all of this mean?
04:02It means we are entering a multipolar nuclear era.
04:05More nuclear states.
04:07Fewer rules.
04:08Less transparency.
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