In reaction to the report that the B61-12 nuclear bomb will be deployed in Europe in December, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has called on Washington to return the nuclear weapons that it deployed to other countries back to the U.S. “I have paid attention to the media ‘leaks’ regarding the possible acceleration of delivery of the first modernized B61-12 nuclear gravity bombs to Europe,” said the ambassador in a statement posted to the embassy’s website. (https://washington.mid.ru/en/press-centre/news/comment_by_the_russian_ambassador_to_the_united_states_anatoly_antonov_on_politico_s_article_on_the_/)
“Representatives of the Administration habitually call these munitions tactical and speculate that the Russian arsenal of the same class is several times larger than that of the U.S. However they fail to mention the fact that all our tactical nuclear weapons are stockpiled in centralized storage facilities on the Russian territory and cannot pose a threat to the United States.
“The U.S. bombs, on the other hand, are deployed in European countries with a short flight time to Russian borders. Therefore, despite their limited yield, B61-12 play a strategic role.
“Moreover, the U.S. military, together with their NATO partners, conduct regular exercises in the use of these weapons. Currently such training is taking place in the form of the Steadfast Noon maneuvers. The NATO leadership claim that the exercise is not directed against Russia. The question arises: against what other country the alliance, whose Strategic Concept calls Russia ‘the most significant and direct threat,’ trains to use nuclear weapons?
“In this time of tension and heightened risks, nuclear powers bear a special responsibility for preventing escalation. With this in mind, I once again urge Washington to return all of its nuclear weapons deployed abroad to the national territory and eliminate foreign infrastructure for their storage and maintenance. As well as to abandon the practice of training military personnel from non-nuclear states to use such weapons as part of the so-called nuclear-sharing missions that contradict the fundamental principles of the NPT,” the ambassador concluded his remarks.
