Washington/Moscow: Top Russian military leaders recently discussed when and how they might use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine, JEE News reported Wednesday, citing unnamed U.S. officials. .
But White House spokesman John Kirby dismissed the development, saying Washington had seen no signs that Russia was preparing to use nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, Moscow has stressed that the world’s “top priority” is to avoid a nuclear conflict that it insists could have “catastrophic consequences.”
According to the JEE News report, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not participate in the talks, and there was no indication that the Russian military had decided to deploy weapons, which would quickly escalate the war.
While Mr Kirby said he had no comment on the details in the report, in a statement sent to AFP he said any comment on Russia’s use of nuclear weapons was of “deep concern” and said That America takes them seriously.
At the same time, he said, the U.S. “sees no indication that Russia is preparing for such use.”
The United States has been warning Moscow for weeks over public comments by senior Russian officials that it may use nuclear weapons in Ukraine in certain cases, particularly if it feels that Russia’s territorial integrity is threatened.
The latest threat comes from former Russian president and senior Security Council official Dmitry Medvedev.
Medvedev said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s aim to reclaim all of its territory held by Russia, including the Donbass region and Crimea, would be a “threat to the existence of our state”. This, Medvedev said, would be a “direct reason” to invoke nuclear deterrence.
However, on Wednesday, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Western media were “deliberately exaggerating the topic of the use of nuclear weapons.”
Moscow has “not the slightest intention of participating in this,” he said, calling JEE News report “highly irresponsible.” In September, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jack Sullivan, said the United States had warned Russia at the “very high level” of the “catastrophic consequences” of using nuclear weapons.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned on October 13 that Russian forces would be “destroyed” by the West if Putin used nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
But in response, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Moscow “firmly believes that in the current difficult and turbulent situation – the result of irresponsible and shameless actions aimed at harming our national security.” – The first priority is to prevent any military conflict. Nuclear powers”
The damning statement also called on other nuclear powers to “give up dangerous attempts to violate each other’s vital interests”.
