MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. Russian tactical nuclear weapons pose no threat to the United States and the attempts to put this issue at the core of nuclear arms control talks hold no prospects, Andrey Belousov, Russian delegation head at a review conference of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Ministry ambassador-at-large, said.
"As for our tactical nuclear weapons, they do not threaten the United States, do not undermine the security equation that developed in the early post-Soviet period and continue to be the basis of strategic stability up to this day," the diplomat stressed at a PIR Center seminar.
"When the issue of tactical nuclear weapons is raised, our opponents talk about our tactical weapons while we talk about theirs. However, we talk about different potential capabilities of nuclear weapons. The attempts to put this issue at the core of a strategic stability dialogue or some negotiations on nuclear arms control still hold no prospects," he said.
The issue of tactical nuclear weapons was touched upon at the review conference, Belousov said. "But it has to be understood what weapons the talk is about," he went on to say. "If the talk is about Russian tactical nuclear weapons, it is one issue. If the talk is about tactical nuclear weapons deployed on the territory of five NATO member states, it is another issue. You have to understand the difference."
From the viewpoint of Russia’s security, and also deterrence and strategic stability, "tactical nuclear weapons deployed on the territory of five non-nuclear NATO member states, and also a part of French and British nuclear arsenals that can be placed under the category of tactical nuclear weapons cannot be considered as such owing to their designated purpose, the Russian diplomat explained.
"Considering the capability of striking major civil and military infrastructure facilities on Russian territory, the American nuclear weapons deployed in Europe are actually strategic. Therefore, we insist that these weapons be withdrawn from Europe, returned to the United States and the entire infrastructure for their deployment on the territory of Europe be dismantled," he stressed.