Russia: Tactical nuclear weapons pose no threat to US

Russia's tactical nuclear weapons do not pose a threat to the United States, and efforts to make them a central topic in arms control negotiations are unlikely to yield results, said Andrey Belousov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large and head of the Russian delegation to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.

Speaking at a seminar organized by the PIR Center, Belousov argued that Russia's non-strategic nuclear arsenal does not undermine the existing security balance between Moscow and Washington.

“As for our tactical nuclear weapons, they do not threaten the United States and do not undermine the security balance that was established in the early post-Soviet years and continues to serve as the foundation of strategic stability to this day,” he said.

Addressing the broader debate over tactical nuclear weapons, Belousov suggested that Moscow and its Western counterparts approach the issue from different perspectives.

“When the issue of tactical nuclear weapons is raised, our opponents talk about our tactical weapons, while we talk about their tactical weapons. But we are discussing different potential capabilities of nuclear weapons,” he said.

Belousov also expressed skepticism about the prospects of placing the issue at the center of future arms control discussions.

“Attempts to place this issue at the forefront of the strategic stability dialogue or any negotiations on nuclear arms control are, for now, futile,” he said.

By Vafa Guliyeva