Russia demands US answers on nuclear weapons deployment in Asia-Pacific
At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Russia asked the US to answer questions about nuclear weapons in the Asia-Pacific region.
According to RIA Novosti, at the meeting of the United Nations Security Council in Washington (local time) on May 31, Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Anna Evstigneeva said that Russia asked the US to directly answer questions about plans to deploy nuclear weapons in some Asian countries.
“We continue to be concerned about the signals from the US allies in Northeast Asia – Japan and South Korea, about the so-called strengthening of cooperation with Washington in the nuclear sphere. We demand that the US delegation directly answer the question regarding the US intentions regarding the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons on the territory of its allies, and assisting them in developing such weapons,” the Russian diplomat stated.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that Washington may be planning to aggravate the situation in the Asian region to the maximum extent. This is how he commented on the US military-political activity in Asia, including the use of nuclear weapons.
In addition, the Russian Foreign Minister added that the US could ask the Philippines and other Asian countries to provide launch sites to deploy medium- and short-range missiles.
Earlier, on May 30, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the US “does not see the need” to return nuclear weapons to the Indo-Pacific region and has no plans to deploy them on the Korean Peninsula.
In mid-April 2024, regarding the Salaknib 24 exercise taking place in the Philippines, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that Washington was deliberately escalating the situation in the Asia-Pacific region and deploying medium-range missiles. Mr. Antonov warned that it would be “a dark day for international security”.
