Defense Minister Shoigu: Russia does not plan to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine Reports of Russia's plans to use chemical or nuclear weapons in Ukraine can be regarded as stuffing, Sergei Shoigu said. He recalled that the country is allowed to use nuclear weapons only to deter threats “(max-width: 320px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), (max-width: 320px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)” >
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Sergei Shoigu
Russia does not plan to use tactical nuclear or chemical weapons in Ukraine, information about such plans in the media can be regarded as stuffing, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at the Moscow Conference on International Security. The event is broadcast on the TV channel “Russia 24”.
According to the head of the Ministry of Defense, the media “spread speculation about the alleged use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in the course of a special military operation or about the readiness to use chemical weapons.” “All these information stuffing is an absolute lie,” — he said.
According to Shoigu, from a military point of view, the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine is not necessary. “The main purpose of Russian nuclear weapons” it is the deterrence of a nuclear attack,»— he emphasized, adding that the use of such weapons is limited to extraordinary circumstances, “which are defined in Russian guiding documents that are open to the public.”
At the same time, according to the minister, the AUKUS association, which includes the United States, Great Britain and Australia, can potentially develop into a military-political union that can apply NATO's developments in joint nuclear training. The association was created last September, and the agreement concluded by the countries provides for cooperation between states in the creation of defense technologies and assistance from Australia in the construction of nuclear submarines equipped with conventional (non-nuclear) weapons, as well as joint work on the creation of hypersonic weapons.
“In a global dimension, the appearance of a nuclear fleet in Australia will give other states a reason to start developing similar weapons. Pandora's box will be opened, the global nuclear arms race will resume, — says Shoigu.
After the start of the Russian military special operation in Ukraine, representatives of Moscow, Kyiv, and third countries made statements about the risk of a nuclear conflict.
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In response, the Russian embassy in the United States accused Washington of being drawn into a “hybrid confrontation” other countries with Moscow, and this, in turn, in the context of the Ukrainian crisis is fraught with “unpredictable escalation and direct military clash of nuclear powers.”
In mid-June, former Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that Western countries have the right to “donate” Ukraine has nuclear weapons, since the Budapest Memorandum was violated, which provided security guarantees for this country in exchange for its renunciation of nuclear weapons. The signatory countries, including Russia, the United States and Great Britain, pledged to respect the independence, sovereignty and borders of Ukraine and to refrain from threats to its territorial integrity.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, commenting on Sikorsky’s words, said that this could provoke nuclear conflict in the center of Europe.
Among the latest such statements about the danger of using nuclear technologies in Ukraine— words of US State Department spokesman Ned Price, who called Russia's military activity near the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant “the pinnacle of irresponsibility”, called for an end to hostilities in the area, as well as the return of control over the plant to Ukraine.
Authors Tags Persons
Sergey Shoigu
politician, Minister of Defense of Russia
May 21, 1955
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