U.S. Concerned about Ukraine Strikes on Russian Nuclear Radar Stations

Ellen Nakashima and Isabelle Khurshudyan | Washington Post

The United States fears that recent Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Russian nuclear early-warning systems could dangerously unsettle Moscow at a time when the Biden administration is weighing whether to lift restrictions on Ukraine using U.S.-supplied weapons in cross-border attacks. “The United States is concerned about Ukraine’s recent strikes against Russian ballistic missile early-warning sites,” said a U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

Putin Warns West Not to let Ukraine Use its Missiles to Hit Russia

Vladimir Soldatkin and Guy Faulconbridge | Reuters 

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Tuesday that NATO members in Europe were playing with fire by proposing to let Ukraine use Western weapons to strike deep inside Russia, which he said could trigger a global conflict…NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told The Economist, opens new tab that alliance members should let Ukraine strike deep into Russia with Western weapons, a view supported by some NATO members but not by the United States. "Constant escalation can lead to serious consequences," Putin told reporters in Tashkent. "If these serious consequences occur in Europe, how will the United States behave, bearing in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons?"

Hungary's Government Signs Deal with Belarus to Help Build Nuclear Reactor

Reuters

Hungary's government signed an accord with Belarus to help build Hungary's second nuclear plant, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a statement in Minsk on Wednesday. Hungary's PAK 2 reactor has been under construction by Russia's Rosatom since 2014. The Russian company is building two reactors with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts each at PAKS 2 in central Hungary. "Of great importance is the agreement signed here today on nuclear energy cooperation, which allows us to use the experiences Belarus gained here while constructing reactors with a similar technology," Szijjarto said, without giving further details on the accord.

North Korea Claims “Autonomous” Guidance and Big Deployments of Its New Small Solid SRBM

VANN H. VAN DIEPEN | 38 North 

North Korean media reported the use of a “new autonomous navigation system” on a May 17 test of a small solid-propellant short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) first flight-tested in April 2022. That system has apparently been designated as Hwasong-11D. Just two days earlier, media reports of Kim Jong Un inspecting a new defense production facility showed some 99 road-mobile Hwasong-11D launchers on display. Assuming the Democratic Republic of Korea’s (DPRK or North Korea) reporting is accurate, these recent activities are notable in at least four key respects.

White House Holds Summit on US Nuclear Energy Deployment

World Nuclear News

According to a White House statement, the Summit on Domestic Nuclear Deployment on 29 May was held to highlight "the collective progress being made from across the public and private sectors". It drew attention to actions taken by the current Administration to reduce reliance on Russian uranium for civil nuclear fuel, and build the nuclear fuel supply chain, the multi-country declaration at COP28 to triple nuclear energy capacity globally by 2050 as well as work on developing new reactor designs and extending the service lives of existing nuclear reactors and growing the momentum behind new deployments.

Iran’s Brisk Walk to a Nuclear Bomb

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board

Iran keeps making substantial progress in its brisk walk to an atomic weapon, a United Nations report leaked Monday suggests, and what are they going to tell us next—that there’s gambling at Rick’s? Yet the Biden Administration wants to hide this scary truth from the world in this election year.