BRUSSELS, October 11. /TASS/. NATO doesn’t see any signs that Russia plans to use nuclear weapons, but continues to closely monitor Russian nuclear forces, the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.
"We are closely monitoring Russia’s nuclear forces. We have not seen any changes in Russia’s posture.But we remain vigilant," he said at a news conference ahead of the meetings of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on October 12-13.
Stoltenberg said "a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought."
He also said it must be made clear to Russia that it will face serious consequences if it uses nuclear weapons, including tactical weapons. NATO, the official said, is prepared for any attack on any of its members, including a nuclear attack.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on October 6 that Washington and other Western capitals may be interested in escalating the situation around the use of nuclear weapons in order to subsequently blame Moscow. According to the diplomat, that’s part of Washington's destructive policy to ensure global dominance, without regard to the danger of provoking a direct armed clash of the largest nuclear powers, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences.