UNITED NATIONS, August 1. /TASS/. Washington is seeking to avoid steps that might lead to nuclear tensions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the United Nations conference to review progress on the implementation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty on Monday.
"United States believes that all nuclear arms states have a duty to act responsibly. We’ve chosen to act with restraint and avoid actions that could unintentionally lead to nuclear tensions. For example, by foregoing previously scheduled ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile] tests and not raising the alert status of our nuclear forces in response to Russian saber-rattling," he said.
"There is no place in our world <…> for nuclear deterrence based on coercion, intimidation, or blackmail," the US top diplomat added.
In April, the US Air Force announced that the country had cancelled a test launch of the Minuteman III ICBM.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov in the Kremlin on February 27 that "top officials of leading NATO countries also allow themselves to make aggressive pronouncements towards our country" and thus ordered to put the Russian Army’s deterrence forces on special alert.