Russia announced upcoming military exercises, including tactical nuclear weapons, on Monday following what the defense minister called provocative threats from Western leaders. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the exercises were ordered by Vladimir Putin and will aim to test the suitability of non-strategic nuclear forces for combat missions. Russia has the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world.
” Escalation “. The tests aim to ensure Russia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty “in response to provocative and threatening statements by some Western leaders once morest the Russian Federation,” the ministry said in a statement. The Kremlin criticized Emmanuel Macron’s comments last week on sending Western ground troops to Ukraine and accused the head of British diplomacy, David Cameron, of fueling an “escalation” in the conflict. The latter estimated that the weapons delivered by the United Kingdom to Ukraine might be used “to strike in Russia since Russia is striking in Ukraine”.
Also read: War in Ukraine: Macron’s three battles
In an interview with The Economist published last week, the French president for his part reiterated his controversial proposal to send ground troops to Ukraine if the Russian army were to “break through the front lines”. “The security of Europeans is at stake in Ukraine because it is 1,500 kilometers from our borders. If Russia wins, the next second, there is no longer any security possible in Romania, in Poland, in Lithuania and not in our country either,” insisted Emmanuel Macron in an interview with “La Tribune Sunday”, published on May 5.
(With Reuters)
