For over the past year it seems every month has witnessed Washington and Moscow upping the ante on nuclear weapons rhetoric, which has been accompanied by the breakdown of key treaties, including recently the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) and more lately 'Open Skies' — now with even New START on the chopping block.

Russia has vowed that for each time Washington moved the goal posts in terms of backing off of prior policies of nuclear weapons restraint, it would respond in kind. This also as the Trump administration has gone so far as to reportedly seriously consider restarting nuclear tests, which hasn't been done in three decades. 

Putin appears to now be making good on 'reciprocal' threats, on