Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has accused the European Union leadership of secretly exploring the creation of an independent nuclear weapons production capability, describing the alleged move as an act of “madness” driven by “pathological Russophobia.”

In a statement published on its website Wednesday, the SVR Press Bureau claimed that officials in Brussels have begun closed-door work on developing a European nuclear arsenal, ostensibly to counter what it called a “mythical Russian threat.”

The statement alleges that the initiative risks undermining the global security architecture and the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, framing it as part of a broader EU plan for a new “march to the East.”

“Ursula von der Leyen and her accomplices find the role of instigators of the Ukrainian conflict too modest,” the SVR said. “They dream of the sinister glory of the leaders of Hitler’s Germany, who unleashed the Second World War.”

According to the Russian intelligence agency, the preparations are being conducted with maximum secrecy in the initial phase. While publicly reaffirming reliance on the U.S. “nuclear umbrella,” EU leaders allegedly aim to buy time to build a domestic nuclear-weapons industrial base and prepare public opinion for a future political decision to acquire nuclear arms.

The SVR further claimed that the UK and France are intensifying coordination of their national nuclear doctrines, with plans to eventually formalize a pan-European nuclear deterrence policy. This would draw on French and British technical capabilities, supplemented by financial and infrastructural contributions from non-nuclear EU member states. Brussels is also said to be reserving the option of establishing fully autonomous European command structures for nuclear forces.

The statement highlighted the industrial and technical foundations that supposedly make such ambitions feasible. It pointed to expertise in Germany, Italy, Czechia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Spain in producing components for nuclear weapons, as well as large stockpiles of spent nuclear fuel from decommissioned power plants that could potentially be diverted for plutonium extraction.

The SVR specifically alleged that German specialists could secretly produce enough weapons-grade plutonium for one nuclear device within about a month using laboratory facilities in Karlsruhe, Dresden, Erlangen, and Jülich, and weapons-grade uranium within a week at the enrichment plant in Gronau.

The Russian agency concluded by urging the U.S. administration and governments worldwide to take all necessary steps to prevent the EU from developing its own nuclear weapons, warning that such a development would trigger a new spiral in the global nuclear arms race.

The SVR’s allegations come amid ongoing discussions in Europe about strengthening collective defense and deterrence capabilities, particularly in light of the war in Ukraine and uncertainties surrounding transatlantic security commitments.

European leaders have recently emphasized the need for greater strategic autonomy in defense matters, though public discourse has focused primarily on conventional forces, civilian nuclear energy expansion, and potential enhancements to existing French and British nuclear postures rather than the creation of new nuclear arsenals by the EU as a whole.

No independent confirmation of the SVR’s specific claims has been reported, and Western officials have previously dismissed similar Russian intelligence assertions as baseless or part of information operations. The European Commission and EU member states have not yet issued an official response to Wednesday’s statement.

This latest claim fits a pattern of sharp rhetorical exchanges between Moscow and Western capitals, with Russia frequently portraying European security initiatives as aggressive and destabilizing.

The developments are being closely watched in diplomatic circles, given the sensitivity of nuclear proliferation issues and the potential implications for global stability and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime. (ILKHA)