Putin put his nuclear deterrence forces on alert in response to what he described as “aggression” by the West.
Photo: KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images
NATO criticized this Sunday the “dangerous rhetoric” of Moscow after the announcement of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on the alerting of his nuclear deterrent forces in the midst of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to the US network CNN, the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, thus warned of the increase in tensions with Russia.
“If you combine this rhetoric with what the Russians are doing on the ground in Ukraine, launching a war against an independent sovereign nation, this adds gravity to the situation.Soltenberg acknowledged.
The NATO secretary general highlighted “irresponsible behavior” and “dangerous rhetoric” by President Putin.
“This is why we support but also why in recent weeks we have significantly increased NATO’s presence on the eastern flank of the alliance,” he added.
Stoltenberg was thus responding to Moscow’s announcement that it was putting the Russian nuclear deterrence forces into a “special service regime” after “aggressive declarations” by the main NATO countries.
This Saturday, the Western allies, led by the United States and the European Union (EU), approved a new round of economic sanctions against Russia, the most powerful to date, which include the exclusion of certain Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system and restrictions on international operations of the Central Bank of Russia.
Russia’s strategic deterrence forces are comprised of nuclear forces, including intercontinental missiles, as well as non-nuclear forces, and anti-missile defense, the early warning system and anti-aircraft defense.
Putin gave these instructions in a meeting this Sunday with the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Valeri Gerasimov.
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US accuses Vladimir Putin of “manufacturing threats” with nuclear alert announcement
Source-laopinion.com