Russia says it cannot ignore NATO's growing nuclear capabilities

MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. Russia cannot overlook NATO’s growing aggregate nuclear capabilities and will take due account of that in its military planning, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS.

"We cannot ignore the obvious strengthening of the nuclear component of NATO’s overall capabilities, which is in fact taking place as a result of Europe’s efforts to develop its own nuclear capabilities in addition to the corresponding US ‘nuclear umbrella,’" he said.

This "cannot go unaddressed in terms of Russian military planning, in particular, with regard to France’s efforts under its new strategy of the so-called forward nuclear deterrence," he stressed.

"Under the guise of Paris’s false claims about ensuring the security of its non-nuclear allies, the exact opposite is happening," Ryabkov noted. "As a result of France extending the operational range of its national nuclear forces onto the territory of these European countries, they are becoming the focus of closer scrutiny by our military responsible for ensuring strategic deterrence."

"Obviously, the overall level of these countries’ security, ultimately, is not improving, I am sorry to say," he added.