MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. The non-nuclear countries of the collective West are increasingly speculating about acquiring atomic weapons, and there is a real threat of their spread there, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Recently, speculation about the acquisition of their own or collective military nuclear potential by the states that do not possess nuclear weapons within the meaning of the NPT has become more frequent," the foreign ministry said. "We believe that the arguments and trial balloons on this increasingly fashionable topic have a destructive effect.

"As a result, there is a real threat of nuclear weapons proliferation in the contour of the collective West, which is already not very peaceful. "Replicating rhetoric about the possibility and even desirability of advancing towards nuclear weapons not only makes this traditionally very sensitive issue routine and banal, but also implicitly shapes agitated public opinion in the ideological paradigm needed by the relevant political forces."

The ministry noted that such processes are taking place in Germany, Poland, the Baltic states, the Nordic countries, South Korea, Japan and other countries.

"All this is done under the pretext of doubts about the reliability and durability of the American ‘nuclear umbrella’ and the allegedly urgent need to create alternatives for it. At the same time, these countries are also in no hurry to abandon their participation in self-proclaimed ‘nuclear alliances’ with the United States," the Foreign Ministry said.

"At the same time, those who come up with such ideas ignore the international political and international legal consequences of the ‘pro-nuclear’ choice. For some reason, they practically do not mention that attempts by a state that does not possess nuclear weapons in accordance with the NPT to acquire such a potential would mean a direct violation of its obligations under this Treaty and a step towards the collapse of this non-proliferation regime, which is one of the pillars of an already rather shaky international security architecture," the Foreign Ministry continued. "At the same time, it is worth noting that no one bears any responsibility for the provocative statements."