Russia Will Take Into Account US Nuclear Saber Rattling

PRESS RELEASE

Russia Will Take Into Account U.S. Nuclear Saber Rattling

Sept. 30, 2016 (EIRNS)—Russia has taken notice of U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s remarks in Minot, North Dakota on Sept. 26, in which he charged that an "aggressive" Russia is engaged in "nuclear saber rattling." The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, yesterday, saying that the Russian government is "troubled" by Carter’s remarks, because it indicates

"that the United States is prepared to use its nuclear capabilities in the event of an armed conflict involving Russia in order to prevent it from using nuclear weapons to repel aggression."

Carter claimed, during his remarks, that the provision in Russia’s military doctrine, published at the end of 2014, is evidence of Russia’s "aggressive" nuclear posture.

"To be clear, the doctrine addresses aggression against Russia, not Russia attempting to find ‘a way out of failed conventional aggression’ to which Mr. Carter is referring,"

the ministry statement reads.

"This outrageous distortion of an official Russian document shows that the U.S. Defence Secretary is either relying on an incorrect translation or planning to start a dangerous game."

"The Pentagon chief’s bellicose rhetoric goes a long way toward explaining the goal of the U.S. policy to modernise its nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles, about which he proudly talked at Minot Air Force Base,"

the ministry statement goes on. The planned modernization of all three legs of the nuclear triad is intended to give the United States "means of nuclear attack for decades to come," and this is to be combined with missile defense, as Carter indicated.

"Thus, the strategy of exerting military pressure on Russia, which in the logic of the Pentagons ’planners’ apparently implies nuclear brinkmanship, will receive an upgraded and even more dangerous military-technical component."

"Naturally, we will have to take into account the U.S. positions and take the necessary reciprocal measures to ensure our national security,"

the Russian statement concludes.