The military expert pointed to the EU's intention to create its own nuclear arsenal.

The European Union has a firm intention to expand its nuclear arsenal — the main candidate for obtaining nuclear weapons is Germany, which already has hints of having special warheads for German Taurus missiles. Military expert Vladimir Gundarov told Izvestia about this on April 8.

"Well, if they have already started working on the scenario, then they have a firm intention to get weapons. Currently, only France in Europe has atomic weapons, regardless of the United States and Great Britain. France's constant historical competitor, Germany, is very eager to possess nuclear weapons, which is exploring various options for acquiring weapons or developing its own weapons, which violates the Treaty on the Non—Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons," he said.

He added that Germany is already involved in NATO's nuclear planning. Representatives of the German Ministry of Defense are involved in developing plans for the creation and use of nuclear weapons. The expert stressed that the only potential target could be the Russian Federation.

"They only lack nuclear weapons. Moreover, the latest leaks of information about the Taurus rocket — "Taurus" in Russian — they indicate, they give some hints that Germany may already have <...> nuclear warheads for these missiles. <...> Therefore, Germany categorically refused to transfer the Taurus to Ukraine. Because they already have another warhead here. A special one. And no one has condemned Germany for this," Gundarov said.

The military expert pointed out that there has long been talk in the military circles of German politics about the need for its own nuclear potential for a power, ignoring the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, according to which Germany cannot have the latter.

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On the same day, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service published a message on its website stating that German specialists are able to covertly obtain enough weapons-grade plutonium for one nuclear explosive device within one month. The ministry noted that a number of European countries, including Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and Spain, have significant competencies in the field of creating individual components of nuclear weapons.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on March 4 that NATO was strengthening and increasing its nuclear potential, which it could use in a potential conflict against Russia. She also noted that France's statements about building up its nuclear potential are a hostile step that destabilizes the development of events.

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