Western officials have said they see no immediate nuclear threat from Russia, as their intelligence communities have detected no signs that its military is ready for a nuclear strike. Putin first revealed the Neptune’s development during a 2018 State of the Nation address, calling it a “unique” weapon. One of Russia’s most notorious TV propagandists this spring warned that Russia could wipe Britain off the map with a nuclear tsunami triggered by a Neptune strike that could send a tidal wave of 500 meters of radioactive seawater. Earlier this week, the White House said the US and Russia had agreed to hold new talks on expanding a nuclear weapons treaty for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the only remaining document limiting the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals, was extended by five years in the first weeks of Joe Biden’s 2021 US presidency, but is set to expire in 2026. The treaty allows both countries to send inspectors to the countries’ nuclear weapons-related facilities. Inspections under the previous treaty were suspended in 2020 due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and have not been resumed, something the parties are also expected to discuss. Earlier this week, Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, said officials from the two countries would meet “in the near future” for confidential discussions. Concerns about a nuclear accident first surfaced in the spring when the Russians bombed the area around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and then seized it.
