China More Than Doubled its Nuclear Arsenal Since 2020, Pentagon Says
Noah Robertson | Defense News
China’s nuclear arsenal has more than doubled in the last three years, amid what a senior Pentagon official calls a “major expansion of their nuclear forces.” As of May 2023, China had around 500 operational nuclear warheads, according to the just-released China Military Power Report, an annual catalog of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) strength. The last time a number was given — in the 2020 report — the stockpile was said to be “in the low 200s.”
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Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2023
https://media.defense.gov/2023/Oct/19/2003323409/-1/-1/1/2023-MILITARY-AND-SECURITY-DEVELOPMENTS-INVOLVING-THE-PEOPLES-REPUBLIC-OF-CHINA.PDF
Russian Lawmakers Vote to Scrap Ratification of Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Filipp Lebedev and Mark Trevelyan | Reuters
Russia's parliament moved swiftly to fulfil the wish of President Vladimir Putin by completing the passage of a bill that shifts Moscow's legal stance on nuclear testing at a time of acute tension with the West. The lower house, the State Duma, on Wednesday passed the second and third readings of a bill that revokes Russia's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Both were passed unanimously by 415 votes to zero.
Russia Says it Need no Longer Obey UN Restriction on Missile Technology for Iran
Reuters
Russia said it need no longer obey U.N. Security Council restrictions on giving missile technology to its ally Iran once they expire on Wednesday, without saying whether it now planned to support Tehran's missile development. "Supplies to and from Iran of products falling under the Missile Technology Control Regime no longer require prior approval by the U.N. Security Council," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Offers Security Talks with North Korea, China as he Visits Pyongyang
Associated Press
Russia’s foreign minister proposed regular security talks with North Korea and China to deal with what he described as increasing U.S.-led regional military threats, as he met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his top diplomat on Thursday during a visit to Pyongyang. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in North Korea’s capital on Wednesday on a two-day trip expected to focus on how to boost the two countries’ defense ties following a September summit between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin Filmed in China Accompanied by Officers With Russian Nuclear Briefcase
Reuters
Rare footage was shown on Wednesday of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing accompanied by officers carrying the so-called nuclear briefcase which can be used to order a nuclear strike. Putin, after a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, was filmed walking to another meeting surrounded by security and followed by two Russian naval officers in uniform each carrying a briefcase. The camera zooms in on one of the briefcases…"There are certain suitcases without which no trip of Putin's is complete," the Kremlin correspondents of state news agency RIA said in a post on Telegram under the footage.
U.S. Issues New Sanctions Targeting Iran’s Missile and Drone Programs
Michael Crowley | The New York Times
The Biden administration on Wednesday imposed new sanctions aimed at Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs, acting to keep up pressure on Tehran after the expiration of United Nations restrictions on those activities. The U.S. actions add to numerous existing measures to prevent and penalize Iran’s efforts to buy or sell technology or equipment related to its missile and drone programs, which are among the most sophisticated in the region.