NATO is discussing deploying more nuclear weapons, removing weapons from storage and putting them on standby in view of the growing threat from Russia and China, the head of the alliance said today.
-“That’s exactly what we do“-
Jens Stoltenberg told Britain’s Telegraph newspaper that NATO members are discussing transparency about their nuclear arsenal as a deterrent.
“I’m not going to talk about the operational details of how many nuclear warheads should be put into service and which will be stored, but we need to consult on these issues. That’s exactly what we’re doing,” he told the newspaper.
-“We are a nuclear alliance“-
“Transparency helps convey a direct message that we are, of course, a nuclear alliance,” said the NATO Secretary General.
“NATO’s goal, of course, is a world without nuclear weapons, but as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will remain a nuclear alliance because a world in which Russia, China and North Korea have nuclear weapons, and NATO does not, is a more dangerous world,” he added. is.
Stoltenberg said last week that nuclear weapons are NATO’s “ultimate security guarantee” and a means of keeping peace.
–Putin threatens nuclear weapons more and more often-
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that Moscow could use nuclear weapons to defend itself in extreme circumstances. Moscow accuses the United States and its European allies of pushing the world to the brink of nuclear conflict by supplying Ukraine with weapons worth billions of dollars, which are used in attacks on Russian territory.
NATO, which has taken a larger role in coordinating military aid to Kiev, rarely speaks publicly about nuclear weapons, although the US is known to have nuclear bombs deployed in several locations in Europe.
–Russians simulated firing of tactical nuclear weapons-
Recall that the Russian military exercise of deployment of tactical nuclear weapons and their firing, which was recently ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, was carried out along the border with Ukraine and included the transfer of fake nuclear warheads to storage points and airports, where they were loaded onto bombers, she announced a special nuclear unit of the Russian army.
The exercises were held in the south of Russia, not far from the border with Ukraine. Soldiers from the Leningrad Military District in northwestern Russia participated in it, and mobile missile launchers, the Air Force and the Navy were used, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced.
Russia’s 12th Military Administration (12 GU MO), which stores, maintains, transports and delivers Russia’s large arsenal of nuclear weapons, said the exercises would be analyzed to make improvements. The Nuclear Administration “secured the delivery of training nuclear munitions to the field depots of the missile brigade positions and the Air Force operational airfield,” it said.
“Further improvement of the training of non-strategic nuclear forces will be determined in order to ensure the fulfillment of tasks in different scenarios of the development of the military-political situation,” the statement said.
A video released by the defense ministry shows Russian soldiers focusing on a mock target and then counting down to launch. The video also shows the launch switch being pressed.
Russia says the United States and its European allies are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear conflict by providing Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of weapons, some of which are being used to attack targets on Russian soil.
