BLED /Slovenia/, September 5. /TASS/. NATO’s speculations on nuclear issues are tantamount to a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksey Meshkov said on Tuesday in the wake of the alliance’s charges Russia was building up its nuclear potential.

"Any speculations by NATO officials over nuclear affairs are by and large a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty," he said. "The treaty does not regard military alliances as nuclear powers."

"It is nuclear powers that are expected to conduct negotiations and have contacts over the problem of restricting nuclear potentials," Meshkov said.

Earlier, NATO’s Deputy Secretary-General Rose Gottemoeller claimed that Russia was building up its nuclear potential. Also, Suddeutsche Zeitung said the alliance was considering the possibility of taking nuclear deterrence measures in retaliation for Moscow’s alleged violation of the INF treaty.