NATO, the EU and the US qualified on Monday as irresponsible the military exercises for the use of tactical nuclear weapons announced earlier by Moscow, which motivated this decision following the statements of some Western officials and the increasing involvement of the West on the side of Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, reports Agerpres.
“Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible. NATO remains vigilant,” a spokeswoman for the Alliance, Farah Dakhlallah, told the EFE agency. NATO’s collective deterrence and defense posture “will continue to guarantee the protection of every centimeter of allied territory”, and Ukraine has the right to self-defense against the Russian invasion and “allies will continue to support Ukraine”, added the NATO representative.
The Russian nuclear exercises are “categorically a clash of swords” and “a continuation of Russia’s irresponsible behavior”, a spokesman for the European Commission, Peter Stano, reacted in turn, according to the DPA agency. According to him, the nuclear military exercises announced by Putin constitute “another proof that the Kremlin is interested in the continuation of the escalation of the situation it has caused through its illegal aggression against Ukraine.”
And the Pentagon denounced Moscow’s “irresponsible rhetoric”. “This is a typical example of irresponsible rhetoric that we have seen in the past from Russia. It’s totally inappropriate, given the current security situation,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder told the press, quoted by AFP. The United States has not yet observed “any change in the positioning of Russian strategic forces,” but will continue to monitor them, the American official said.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian army to “soon” carry out military maneuvers in which, according to an announcement issued Monday morning by the Russian Ministry of Defense, “a series of measures will be taken to train (troops) in the preparation and use of nuclear weapons non-strategic”, i.e. of tactical nuclear weapons, exercises in which the Southern Military District will engage mainly units positioned near Ukraine, including naval, missile and aviation units.
Small nuclear bombs, tactical nuclear weapons can be used on the battlefield, to destroy military objectives such as bases or airports, but possibly also some towns. These weapons can cause immense damage, but their range of destruction is more limited than that of strategic nuclear weapons.
The exercises announced by Moscow could also take place on the territory of Ukraine occupied by Russian troops, as the Southern Military District includes the four Ukrainian regions partially occupied and annexed by Russia, namely Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.
The Kremlin reasoned that these maneuvers are a response to the threatening statements made, among other Western officials, by French President Emmanuel Macron, who in an interview given to The Economist publication said again that he does not rule out the possibility of sending NATO troops in support Ukraine.
“They talked about the availability and including the intention to send military contingents to Ukraine, that is, to put NATO soldiers in front of the Russian military. This is a new spiral of escalating tension. It has no precedent and requires special attention and special measures,” explained Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“We hope that this event (exercises for the use of tactical nuclear weapons, n.ed.) will calm the hot heads in Western capitals,” explained the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow.
Some Western politicians are “deliberately pushing the situation towards the continuation of the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis to an open confrontation between NATO countries and Russia”, adds the Russian Foreign Ministry, mentioning in this regard, in addition to Macron’s statements, those of the British Minister of foreign minister David Cameron, who said that Ukraine has the right to use weapons from British military aid to hit targets on Russian territory, as well as the US decision to supply Ukraine with ATACMS missiles that have a range of 300 kilometers.
