Because of course it’s fantastic timing… NATO plans to go through with scheduled nuclear exercises next week despite the ratcheting nuclear rhetoric surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war, which also only days ago saw President Joe Biden warn of the risk of the world witnessing “Armageddon” in highly controversial remarks.
NATO prepares for drills that simulate the use of nuclear weapons in Europe. NATO also announced Tuesday that it has increased its Baltic Sea patrols to 30 warships, to prevent attacks on infrastructure that is critical to NATO nations.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that the alliance would not cancel the exercise.
NATO’s “Steadfast Noon” exercise runs for about a week and involves nuclear-capable fighter jets, although no live bombs are used, according to the Associated Press. Fourteen nations will be taking part in the exercise, which is taking place more than 625 miles from Russia, AP quoted a NATO official it did not name as saying.
U.S. ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith agreed, saying, “ President Putin is failing to meet his strategic objectives on the ground, and this has been a reoccurring theme for him personally since this war started,” according to the Daily Mail.
During his comments, Stoltenberg said NATO “will also address the protection of our critical infrastructure.”
He said that “following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, we have further enhanced our vigilance across all domains. We have doubled our presence in the Baltic and North Seas to over 30 ships supported by maritime patrol aircraft and undersea capabilities.”
US President Joe Biden warned last week that Russia and the West face a greater threat of nuclear “Armageddon” than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis 40 years ago. President Vladimir Putin has vowed that Russia will use “all the means available to us” to defend its people and territory – a statement that Washington and its NATO allies perceived as a threat to deploy nuclear weapons.
Last week, Zelensky demanded that NATO carry out preventive strikes on Russia to deter the use of nuclear weapons. After Moscow accused him of trying to spark a third world war, Zelensky walked backed the statement, claiming it was mistranslated and that he really meant to say preemptive sanctions, not “preemptive strikes.”.