Russia fears upgraded US bombs threaten nuclear security

(Baonghean.vn) - Director of the Department of Non-Proliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Ulyanov said on August 3 that the US upgrading the B61-12 bomb would threaten nuclear security, because the combat features of this type of bomb would increase the risk of using them.

B61-12 bomb. Photo: Sputnik.

"It is no coincidence that some American experts are in a hurry to call these new warheads more 'moral', because they believe that their use will have less catastrophic consequences. But this is actually the negative side: the features of such weapons increase the temptation to use them," Mikhail Ulyanov was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

According to Mr. Ulyanov, this nuclear bomb is designed primarily to replace the old US nuclear weapons in five European countries: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey as well as Washington's own nuclear weapons. Upgrading this US nuclear arsenal in Europe is to prolong the implementation of NATO's joint nuclear missions, which is "a blatant violation of the content and spirit of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty".

Earlier, responding to the news that the US had upgraded the B61-12 nuclear bomb, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian President, said that Russian experts would assess whether they posed a threat to the global nuclear balance. Meanwhile, Dmitry Gorovtsov, deputy chairman of the Duma (lower house) committee on security and anti-corruption, said that Russia would not get bogged down in an arms race, and that US efforts to threaten Russia were “doomed to fail”.

The B61-12, developed in 1963, is one of the United States' top thermonuclear weapons. The US National Nuclear Security Administration has authorized production of an upgraded B61-12 nuclear warhead since 2020, with increased accuracy and less destructive power. This new version is expected to replace the current B61 bomb.

Lan Ha

(According to Sputnik)