Russia’s top commander in Ukraine Gen. Sergei Surovikin discussed using nuclear weapons to prevent Ukraine from advancing into Crimea in the fall of 2022, the New York Times said March 29.
The Times cited U.S. intelligence reports, which also reportedly said that U.S. intelligence agencies put the chances of Moscow using nuclear weapons between 5-10%, but could surge to 50% if Ukraine successfully charged into Crimea. In 2022, Moscow’s longstanding foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said at the time that there were “considerable” risks of nuclear conflict.
As 2026 looms for the end of the New START Treaty, which limits the use of strategic nuclear weapons, the U.S. estimates Russia’s stockpile to be at 2,000 active warheads. Gen. Anthony Cotton, commander of the Strategic Command, said in a Senate hearing in late March that Russia had modernized the majority of its nuclear arsenal already.
The Donald Trump administration’s pick to be deputy secretary of energy told a Senate panel Wednesday that if confirmed his focus would be on easing federal regulatory approval for new infrastructure and electricity projects.
In his prepared testimony to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, James Danly, nominated by Trump Jan. 22, also said keeping the Department of Energy’s National Laboratory system at the forefront of science and engineering would be a top priority.
“I believe my prior roles as general counsel, commissioner, and chairman at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission give me a unique and important vantage point on how to achieve the president and the secretary’s shared vision of ensuring affordable, reliable and secure energy for the American people,” Danly said, who would serve as Secretary of Energy Chris Wright’s right hand man if confirmed.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi and Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul Thursday in Brussels to discuss trilateral cooperation in safety and security, including with nuclear capabilities.
According to a press release by the State Department, all three officials affirmed a commitment to the denuclearization of North Korea. They all emphasized the “need to address the DPRK’s [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] nuclear and missile programs” and to “maintain and strengthen the sanctions regime” against North Korea.
All three nations also discussed deploying nuclear reactors for energy needs. The National Nuclear Security Administration signed an agreement with both countries in December 2023 to collaborate on emerging nuclear technologies, and reached a memorandum of understanding with the Republic of Korea November of last year on the export of civil nuclear energy.
The Senate on Wednesday afternoon unveiled its updated budget resolution that sets a blueprint for passing Trump administration priorities, retaining a proposal to boost defense spending by $150 billion.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), chair of the Budget Committee, said President Trump is “fully on board” with the upper chamber’s new resolution, which also includes raising the debt ceiling by $5 trillion and making the 2017 tax cuts instituted by the first Trump administration permanent.
Senate GOP leadership is aiming to bring up the measure for a vote this week, setting up the House to potentially take up the measure next week before Congress goes on a two-week recess. This article was originally published by Exchange Monitor-affiliate Defense Daily.
Obituary
Former Sen. Bennett Johnston (D-La.), a defender of nuclear energy and former chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, died March 25 at age 92.
Johnston was a moderate Democrat who served in the Senate from 1972 to 1997. He started in the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1964, and then the Louisiana Senate in 1967. He ran for the U.S. Senate after losing a race for Louisiana governor by a close margin.
Johnston was either a ranking member or chair of the Energy and Natural Resources committee from 1973 to 1996, during which time the most serious nuclear reactor accident in the United States happened at Three Mile Island Unit 2 in 1979, according to Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call.
