Putin rattles his atomic saber by ordering nuclear weapons drills

May 7, 2024

Russia announced on Monday that it is preparing for nuclear weapons exercises due to Western leaders making “provocative statements and threats” about increasing their support of Ukraine.

Politico reports that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov specifically blamed French president Emmanuel Macron and British representatives.

The TASS news agency reported Peskov stating, “Deploying NATO soldiers to confront the Russian military in the latest escalation of tensions is an unprecedented move, and, of course, it requires special attention and special measures.”

Last week, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that Ukraine could strike Russia with British weapons. Meanwhile, French president Macron is floating the idea of sending Western troops to fight in Ukraine.

According to Politico, the Kremlin is sounding a warning to NATO when it says: “The exercise is aimed at maintaining the readiness of personnel and equipment of non-strategic nuclear weapons combat units to respond and unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against the Russian Federation.”

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