So, Masliukov's statement makes sense in economic terms. The answer can be found if the international situation is viewed through Russian eyes. It is obvious that nuclear weapons have become more prominent in Russian national security policy since 1992. Beyond the purely military aspects, however, nuclear weapons have additional significance. Two points should be noted in this regard.
Nuclear weapons are an important guarantee of economic and political reforms.
Although this may sound strange, nuclear weapons serve such a role in the current Russian political context. As long as the nuclear arsenal can conceivably provide viable deterrence, proponents of reforms can claim that the security of the country is assured. Hence, the pressure in favor of greater defense spending is weakened, and military reform can be allowed to continue at a snail's pace. This paper is not intended to evaluate the validity of this claim, but rather to note that it has political relevance. It is hardly accidental, as a favorite Soviet saying goes, that nuclear weapons have received close attention from the Russian government, and that they received more attention from the reformist government of Sergei Kiriyenko than they did from the previous government of Viktor Chernomyrdin.