MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/. Russia is monitoring the situation involving the possible deployment of US nuclear weapons on the territory of Britain, and it will respond accordingly, if it happens, Gennady Gatilov, Russia's permanent representative to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva, has said on the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

"We are monitoring these reports. Possibly, it is about recommissioning an airbase with US nuclear weapons in Britain. There have been speculations about sending nuclear weapons to the Baltics and Poland. All this breeds tensions. We are following these developments. Of course, if this is true, Russia will be forced to respond accordingly," Gatilov said.

He also drew attention to the fact that the Western countries would not raise this issue at meetings of the Conference on Disarmament, but Russia "will always keep in mind in its comments and statements that such a possible development creates tensions and by no means contributes to the negotiation process on the disarmament track."

Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that the deployment of US nuclear weapons in Britain might take place in the near future. As the senior diplomat noted, the US was wrong, if it thought that this step would be able to intimidate Russia. Moscow will find countermeasures, he said.