The Polish foreign minister previously called for troops to be amassed near Kaliningrad Region to keep Moscow \u201cuncertain of what we will do\u201d<\/p>\n
Increased NATO military exercises near Russia\u2019s Kaliningrad Region and aggressive rhetoric from members of the US-led bloc are raising the risk of a direct armed conflict, Moscow has warned.
\nRussia has sent NATO a warning stressing its determination to protect the Russian exclave in the Baltic region \u201cwith its entire available arsenal,\u201d according to a statement published on Monday by the Russian Embassy in Belgium, which hosts the bloc\u2019s headquarters.
\nThe message alluded to remarks made earlier this month by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who said there are \u201chardly any troops\u201d in Kaliningrad Region and urged NATO to increase its military posture near Russia\u2019s borders so that Moscow would be \u201cuncertain of what we will do.\u201d<\/p>\n
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NATO spokesperson Allison Hart confirmed receiving the Russian message and accused Moscow of irresponsible rhetoric.
\n\u201dWe strongly denounce the threat of force, including any irresponsible nuclear rhetoric,\u201d she said.
\nWestern officials have frequently described Russian statements invoking its nuclear deterrent as \u201cblackmail,\u201d while presenting NATO\u2019s own nuclear-sharing arrangements as a pillar of collective defense.
\nFrance has offered to discuss the possible deployment of its nuclear weapons in other European NATO countries, arguing that this could reduce the bloc\u2019s dependence on the US. Under NATO\u2019s existing nuclear-sharing arrangements, American nuclear bombs are stored in several European countries, while personnel from non-nuclear member states train for missions involving their potential use.<\/p>\n
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Russia has repeatedly rejected Western claims that it intends to attack NATO before the end of the decade, describing such warnings as warmongering aimed at persuading voters to support sharply higher military spending.
\nMoscow, in turn, views NATO\u2019s military preparations as potentially paving the way for an attack on Russia. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has repeatedly warned that any such conflict would be extremely brief, implying that Moscow could resort to nuclear weapons.
\nThe Russian Embassy in Ireland used more direct language, saying on Tuesday that Moscow is prepared to use nuclear weapons in response to an attempted NATO blockade of Kaliningrad Region and may consider pre-emptive military action in such a crisis.
\nKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday it was \u201cnatural for our diplomats to try and remind hotheads in Europe about our doctrinal documents,\u201d in response to the rhetoric coming from Poland and other nations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Polish foreign minister previously called for troops to be amassed near Kaliningrad Region to keep Moscow \u201cuncertain of what we will do\u201d Increased NATO military exercises near Russia\u2019s Kaliningrad…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t