NATO criticizes Putin for “dangerous and irresponsible” nuclear rhetoric – #NATO #criticizes #Putin #dangerous #irresponsible #nuclear #rhetoric

KYIV, March 26 (Reuters) – Sunday NATO Russia criticized Vladimir Putin for his “dangerous and irresponsible” nuclear rhetoric, a day after his president said he planned to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Putin step taken on Saturday USAlikened it to the deployment of weapons in Europe, and at the same time insisted that Russia will not break its promises regarding the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

While not unexpected, the plan is one of the clearest nuclear signals since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began 13 months ago, and Ukraine in response to this UN called a meeting of the Security Council.

Although Washington, the world’s other nuclear superpower, played down concerns about Putin’s announcement, NATO Russia the president’s promise of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and USAsaid that the description of placing weapons abroad is too much.

NATO“Russia’s reference to NATO sharing nuclear weapons is completely misleading,” spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in an emailed statement to Reuters on Sunday. “NATO allies fully respect their international obligations.”

“Russia has consistently violated its arms control obligations,” Lungescu said.

Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov, Chief Security Adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Russia’s plan would also destabilize Belarus, which he said was taken “hostage” by Moscow.

Experts said that this step of Russia is important, because it is so far USAunlike , it prided itself on not deploying nuclear weapons outside its borders. It may be the first time it has done so since the mid-1990s.

Another adviser to Zelensky, Mykhailo Podoliak, mocked Putin’s plan on Twitter on Sunday.

“He admits he’s afraid of losing and the only thing he can do is scare tactics,” Podoliak writes.

Washington saw no change in Moscow’s potential to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine, and it and NATO said the news would not affect their own nuclear positions.

NATO spokesman Lungescu wrote: “We have not seen any changes in Russia’s nuclear posture to match ours.”

Tactical nuclear weapons refer to weapons used for specific gains on the battlefield rather than those capable of destroying cities. Given that Russia is still an area shrouded in Cold War secrecy, it’s unclear how many such weapons it possesses.

Ukraine UNCONVENES the meeting of

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine after Putin’s statement UN He called an emergency meeting of the Security Council and called on the international community to “take decisive action” to prevent Russia from using nuclear weapons.

“Russia reaffirms its chronic inability to be a responsible steward of nuclear weapons as a means of war prevention and deterrence, not as an instrument of threat and intimidation.”

European Union joined the chorus of condemnation on Sunday, with its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urging Belarus not to acquire weapons and threatening further sanctions.

Analysts at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said the risk of a nuclear war “remains extremely low.”

The Republican Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the US House of Representatives in Washington, deputy Michael McCall said that Russia’s plan is disturbing and intended to intimidate the West.

“I think it’s a sword that Putin made to intimidate,” McCaul told Fox News Sunday. “This tactic worries nuclear weapons.”

PUTIN APPRECIATES THE WESTERN “Axis”.

Putin said the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has been asking for this placement for a long time. There was no immediate reaction from Lukashenko.

Although the Belarusian army does not formally fight in Ukraine, it is close to Minsk and Moscow military have connections. Last year, Minsk allowed Moscow to use the territory of Belarus to send troops to Ukraine.

Sunday Putin Moscow and Beijing military he also denied forming an alliance and instead said the Western powers were building a new “axis” similar to the partnership between Germany and Japan during World War II.

He has often described the Ukrainian war as Moscow fighting Ukraine in the grip of Nazis believed to be backed by Western powers that threatened Russia.

Ukraine, part of the Soviet Union and itself devastated by Hitler’s forces, rejects these parallels as false pretexts for a war of aggression.

Russia Ministry of Defence said on Sunday that Russian forces on the battlefield KharkivDonetsk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions military hit the targets and it caused a lot of Ukrainian losses.

TASS of Russia news agency said on Sunday, referring to a source in law enforcement agencies and emergency services, that a Ukrainian drone caused an explosion in the center of the city of Kireyevsk, Tula region of Russia, 3 people were injured, and 3 residential buildings were damaged.

Russia has stated in the past that Ukrainian drones flew over its territory and damaged civilian infrastructure. Kyiv denies this claim.

Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of the President of Ukraine, destroyed two residential buildings as a result of a rocket attack by Russian forces on the city of Avdiivka in the east of Donetsk region. He said there were no losses.

Ukraine’s General Staff said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had completed their last offensive on the eastern front, including the Bakhmut region, which has been the scene of fierce fighting for the past few months. 24 hours defeated 85 attacks of Russia.

Reuters could not immediately confirm reports of the fight.

Dan Peleschuk and Reuters reporting; Added by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels report; Written by Dan Peleschuk and Hugh Lawson; Edited by Francis Currie, Alexandra Hudson

Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

2023-03-26 22:20:36
Source – reuters

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