France, Poland Plan Joint Nuclear-Capable Rafale Exercises Over Baltic Sea

MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. France is planning to conduct joint air force exercises with Poland over the Baltic Sea involving Rafale fighter jets "equipped with nuclear warheads" to simulate strikes against targets in Russia, the Wirtualna Polska website reported, citing sources. According to the report, the exercises may take place in the near future, with the Baltic Sea and northern Poland as the venues. Polish air forces are also expected to participate. Their tasks will include target detection and practicing strikes with conventional weapons, primarily US-made JASSM-ER cruise missiles, against "important targets near St. Petersburg." The report emphasizes that France has no plans to station nuclear-capable fighter jets in Poland on a permanent basis. Sources cited by the publication also said that the response scenarios being developed by Paris and Warsaw for a purported "possible Russian attack" do not require consultations within NATO under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. "Developing joint procedures will allow for much faster decision-making on defense. The scenarios for Polish-French exercises will serve as a kind of contingency plan in the event of an attack by Russia, but they do not constitute an element that would be triggered following lengthy discussions under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty," a source told the website. The day before, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had not discussed holding joint nuclear exercises. According to him, cooperation in nuclear deterrence between the two countries is not as advanced as media reports suggest. Commenting on the news, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that such plans indicate Europe's drive toward further militarization and nuclearization.