NATO does not have any “direct evidence” that Russia has deployed additional nuclear weapons, the block’s top military commander has said. It comes in light of Kiev accusing Moscow of moving some of its nuclear arsenal to Crimea.
“We have to be very clear – we have not seen direct evidence
of any deployment of nuclear weapons [by Russia],” the
Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) Breedlove told reporters in Brussels.
“We do not need to make any adjustments to our nuclear
posture. First and foremost, we have a secure, a safe and a very
capable nuclear response and that’s our mission – to keep it that
way,” NATO’s top military commander said.
Breedlove’s statement comes after Ukraine alleged that Russia is
expanding its nuclear capability into Crimea. The secretary of
the Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Aleksander
Turchynov, told Ukrinform that Russia was taking steps toward
moving nuclear weapons to the Black Sea peninsula.
READ MORE: Russia to boost military presence in Crimea, response
to NATO E. Europe expansion
However, the NATO general did not dismiss the accusations
altogether: “We have not seen any direct changes, but that
does not mean that they may not have happened. Remember that lots
of the systems that the Russians use to deliver nuclear weapons
are dual-use systems. They can be either conventional or nuclear
and some of those systems are deployed,” the general said.
Russian Presidential
Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov referred to the statements as
unfounded allegations. “This statement, like many others … is
based on unfounded accusations against Russia as we have pointed
out time and again.”
Last month, presidential envoy to Crimea, Oleg Belaventsev, said
there is no point in Russia moving its nuclear arsenal to Crimea.
“There is no need to deploy nuclear weapons to Crimea … We
have enough weapons to reach the adversary whenever it is
based.”
Crimea will be left as a “nuclear-free zone,”
Belaventsev added. “Under presidential orders, we will create
a recreational area in Crimea.”
At the same time, Russia’s Navy chief, Admiral Viktor Chirkov,
announced plans in early May for upgrading Russian naval forces,
including the Black Sea Fleet stationed in Sevastopol, Crimea.
READ MORE: As part of Russian territory
Crimea can host nuclear weapons – Foreign Ministry
The Crimean Republic became part of the Russian Federation last
March, after over 96 percent of its residents – the majority of
whom are ethnic Russians – voted for the move in an urgently
called referendum.
The vote was triggered by a sudden regime change in Ukraine,
which ousted the democratically elected president and government.
The latest poll conducted in March showed that over 90 percent of
Crimean residents have positive feelings about the reunification
with Russia, the national public opinion research center VTSIOM
said.