MOSCOW, Jun 24 USA «inflates horror stories about the Russian nuclear threat, thereby raising the stakes and creating strategic risks, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
U.S. senators earlier submitted a resolution to the upper house of Congress that if Russia uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine, this should be regarded as an attack on NATO.
She noted that the draft resolution submitted by the US senators, in terms of meaning and time, will fit in with Ukraine's statements regarding the threat from the Russian Federation to the Zaporizhzhya NPP.
According to her, such statements are intended for a public that is not familiar with the facts and realities. In this regard, she noted that the Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that Moscow does not need to use nuclear weapons in the context of the crisis around Ukraine.
“Washington prefers not to notice the obvious. There is a typical situation when the United States and its satellites seize on every opportunity to create and inflate horror stories about the “Russian nuclear threat.” Thus, the United States purposefully continues to “raise the stakes” and engage in the generation of strategic risks, drawing its NATO allies into this dangerous activity. The consequences of such a reckless line will be extremely sad, including for Washington itself,» Zakharova said in a statement on the department's website.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an address to the Russians, said that the West had crossed every line in its anti-Russian policy, as well as constant threats against Russia. According to him, the West used nuclear blackmail, the use of weapons of mass destruction against Russia. The Russian leader reminded the West that Russia is superior in a number of components to foreign military equipment, and warned those trying to blackmail the Russian Federation with nuclear weapons that the wind rose could turn in their direction.
The scenarios under which Russia could theoretically use nuclear weapons are set out in the Russian military doctrine and in the Fundamentals of State Policy in the Sphere of Nuclear Deterrence. According to the documents, this is possible in the event of aggression against Russia or its allies with the use of weapons of mass destruction, or aggression with the use of conventional weapons, when the existence of the state itself is threatened.