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Russian diplomat blames US for deliberately lowering nuclear threshold

"Ballistic missiles have been equipped aboard Trident II submarines, which have warheads of reduced power and are supposed to be used in scenarios involving a limited use of nuclear weapons," Sergey Ryabkov noted

MOSCOW, September 23. /TASS/. The United States is deliberately lowering the nuclear threshold, creating a threat to Russia’s national security, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in a video address to participants in an international research conference at the Diplomatic Academy, dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis.

"Ballistic missiles have been equipped aboard Trident II submarines, which have warheads of reduced power and are supposed to be used in scenarios involving a limited use of nuclear weapons. That said, the Americans are deliberately lowering the nuclear threshold, which creates an additional threat to our national security," Ryabkov noted.

At the same time, the diplomat noted that the Pentagon was working to implement a program aimed at upgrading the country’s nuclear capabilities. "Among other things, it includes the development and deployment to Europe of the B61-12 thermonuclear bomb that has improved accuracy and variable power settings, which in theory can reduce side effects from its use," the Russian deputy foreign minister added.

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