ALI WALKER AND LAURA KAYALI | POLITICO
Russia on Tuesday announced it has started tactical nuclear weapons exercises near Ukraine, as Moscow again accused the West of being "provocative." The Kremlin's Southern Military District troops "are practicing combat training tasks of obtaining special ammunition for the Iskander operational-tactical missile system, equipping launch vehicles with them and covertly advancing to the designated position area in preparation for missile launches," Russia's defense ministry said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
Michelle Nichols | Reuters
A Russian-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution that called on all countries to prevent "for all time" the placement, threat or use of any weapons in outer space failed on Monday with the 15-member body split over the move. The draft failed to get the minimum nine votes needed: seven members voted in favor and seven against, while one abstained. A veto can only be cast by the United States, Russia, China, Britain or France if a draft gets at least nine votes.
Jeongmin Kim | NK News
North Korea has condemned the U.S. for conducting a no-explosion nuclear experiment that it claims destabilizes global security, vowing to recalibrate its own nuclear deterrence measures in response…Ankit Panda, the Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, agreed that the test is “not a huge deal.” “North Korea responds occasionally to tests like this. They’ve even responded to inert B61 drop tests in the past, comparing them to nuclear tests,” Panda said.
JASON BLEVINS | The Colorado Sun
A new federal law banning the import of Russian uranium and directing $2.7 billion toward expansion of U.S. production of uranium for nuclear power could revive a long-dormant uranium industry in western Colorado and surrounding states. “All things are looking very, very positive for our industry,” said Mark Chalmers, the CEO of Lakewood-based Energy Fuels, which is ramping up uranium production at three mines in Arizona and Utah… Rumblings of a uranium renaissance have bounced around western Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming since most of the West’s uranium mines were idled in 2012 by the collapse of uranium prices.
Yonhap News Agency
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had voiced frustration over global skepticism on his will for denuclearization, stressing he had no intention to use nuclear weapons, a memoir written by former President Moon Jae-in showed Friday. The details of exchanges between Moon and Kim during their first summit held in April 2018 were shared in the book, of which the title translates into "From the Periphery to the Center." It recounts significant diplomatic events, such as Moon's summit meetings with Kim and former U.S. President Donald Trump, during his five-year presidency that ended in May 2022.
Heather Williams | CSISNuclear threats have been part of Russia’s strategy in Ukraine since the invasion in February 2022. The Kremlin clearly perceives some benefit from this strategy. One reason might be deterrence and nuclear signaling. But another reason Russia continues to rely on nuclear saber-rattling is because it is getting away with it. These risky behaviors are essentially cost-free to Moscow and have drawn little-to-no response from the wider international community, aside from statements of opprobrium by the United States and some European states. Reducing nuclear risks will require more countries to confront Russian nuclear saber-rattling, such as the latest drills, and impose diplomatic or economic costs.