Foreign Ministry says Moscow to factor in Berlin's nuclear research in military strategy

Lead

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on July 21 that Moscow will factor Germany's nuclear weapons-related research into its military strategy, responding to a statement by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) about Berlin's potential to develop nuclear weapons. The German government, meanwhile, has rejected the allegations as false and reiterated its commitment to NATO's nuclear-sharing framework.

Coverage Comparison

Reporting from TASS, the Russian state news agency, captured responses from both Russian and German officials. In a July 21 dispatch from Moscow, Grushko told journalists that "what Germany is doing is not surprising," citing the country's technological and industrial potential, and stressed that "these are realities that must also be taken into account in our military planning." A separate TASS report from Berlin on July 22 quoted the first deputy spokesperson for the German government, Steffen Meyer, as saying that Germany is not seeking to develop its own nuclear weapons and that the government's policy remains unchanged.

The German response came after the SVR released a statement claiming that a key NATO member state had expressed concern over active nuclear weapons-related research in Germany. In its statement, the SVR alleged that Germany's research in fields such as advanced materials science, shockwave physics, nuclear physics, and neutron physics—involving 30 universities nationwide—could allow Berlin to independently produce fissile material within one to three months and design a functional nuclear explosive device within a year without a full-scale test.

Key Claims

The SVR's statement, as reported by TASS on July 20, asserted that relevant ministries in one of NATO's key member states had voiced concern over the scale of Germany's nuclear-related research. The intelligence agency named several universities, including the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Ruhr University Bochum, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, RWTH Aachen University, and the Technical University of Berlin, and said practical experiments were conducted at six research reactors. It also claimed that German defense companies—Rheinmetall AG, Diehl Stiftung GmbH, KNDS Group, and Umarex GmbH—were involved in developing technologies for high-energy explosives and electronic detonation systems, with materials and equipment regularly tested at German Army training grounds.

The SVR further claimed that NATO military experts believe Germany could produce the required fissile material within one to three months and build a functional nuclear explosive device within one year without conducting a full-scale nuclear test. The agency framed these developments as "particularly alarming given Germany's extensive militarist past and Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government's plans to 'once again make the German army the strongest in Europe.'"

In response, Meyer dismissed the SVR's allegations as "untrue," stating that "the policy course of the federal government remains unchanged. All efforts of Germany in the sphere of security and defense policy are carried out in the European and trans-Atlantic context." He acknowledged that Germany adheres to the concept of joint use of nuclear weapons at NATO and cooperation with France as part of the advanced containment strategy.

Grushko, however, linked Germany's activities to broader Western trends, noting that NATO has "self-proclaimed its nuclear status." He argued that the alliance's strategic concepts state that as long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain nuclear, which he said violates the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. He also mentioned the French European nuclear umbrella concept, which he said is now at the fore.

Perspectives

Russian government: Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko expressed concern over Germany's nuclear-related research and indicated that Moscow would adjust its military planning accordingly, framing the issue as part of NATO's broader efforts to strengthen the role of nuclear weapons.

German government: First deputy spokesperson Steffen Meyer denied that Germany seeks to develop its own nuclear weapons, reaffirming Berlin's commitment to NATO's nuclear-sharing arrangements and dismissing the SVR's allegations as untrue.

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR): In its statement, the SVR claimed that Germany possesses the capability to develop nuclear weapons swiftly and warned about the risks posed by Berlin's research, linking it to a militarist past and current government ambitions.