They wrote that “the relevant ministries of one of the key NATO states are expressing concern about the active research and development work being carried out in Germany that has a nuclear weapons focus.” That said, the US’ refusal to extend the New START with Russia raised the likelihood of a nuclear arms race, which could lead to Germany and other European countries like Poland developing nukes. It therefore follows that Putin wouldn’t flip-flop by seriously considering a first strike against a nuclearizing Germany since he sincerely believes that Russia’s Sarmats could make the scenario of a nuclear-armed Germany manageable. That’s a reasonable calculation, but it depends on his country’s nuclear triad remaining intact, which Ukraine has attacked several times already with Western backing. Even in the worst-case that Germany goes nuclear, nobody should doubt that Russia will ensure its national security, and any attempt to repeat the horrors of the Great Patriotic War would be the end of Germany.