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| Underwater atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll, conducted by the U.S. army on July 25, 1946 |
Moscow - Russia criticized the United States' deployment of 150 atomic bombs in five non-nuclear NATO member countries. Moscow said the move would increase the risk of nuclear war. America's actions, Russia said, also run counter to the non-proliferation treaty (NPT).
The criticism was conveyed by a delegation from the Russian Foreign Ministry for the UN conference on nuclear non-proliferation in New York. “NATO has publicly declared itself to be a nuclear alliance. There are US nuclear weapons on the territory of non-nuclear allied countries in the bloc," said Igor Vishnevetsky, deputy director of nonproliferation and arms control at the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"Contrary to Articles I and II of the NPT, non-nuclear members of NATO are taking part in 'practical tests' of the use of atomic weapons," Vishnevetsky said. "Such actions not only continue to be a significant factor negatively affecting international and European security, but also increase the risk of nuclear conflict and generally act as a brake on efforts in the area of nuclear disarmament." According to him, Moscow's position is that US nuclear weapons should be withdrawn into its national territory, "The infrastructure for their deployment in Europe must be removed, and NATO's 'joint nuclear mission' must be stopped," said Vishnevetsky, whose transcript was posted by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The US Air Force has deployed about 150 atomic bombs on NATO bases in five countries; Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands. These are all non-nuclear countries. The Russian delegation also touched on AUKUS, the September 2021 agreement on the willingness of the US and UK to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. "This partnership creates the prerequisites for the start of a new arms race in the Asia-Pacific region," Vishnevetsky said.
The withdrawal of US atomic weapons from non-nuclear NATO countries is one of the main points of Russia's security proposal, presented to the US and NATO in December 2021. Neither Washington nor the military bloc discussed it in the response they sent to Moscow in January.