MOSCOW. Oct 22 (Interfax) - United States military exercises in Europe which practice nuclear strike missions are destabilizing the global situation, particularly against the backdrop of the crisis in the sphere of arms control, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
Commenting on U.S. exercise Steadfast Noon which is related to NATO's nuclear sharing system, Zakharova said, "According to reports, these maneuvers involved honing nuclear weapons deployment skills in the framework of the alliance's so-called nuclear sharing system. A number of countries used their fighter-bombers equipped for using the American nuclear ammunition placed in Europe."
"At the same time, U.S. nuclear systems remain not only in Germany, but also in Belgium, Holland, Italy, and Turkey, as well. Meanwhile, the Americans are modernizing their nuclear bombs, and NATO's European members are modernizing their airborne carriers for such weapons," she said.
"Yet again, we have to point out that, in the current arms control crisis, the unrestricted buildup by certain states and their allies, and by their alliances, of their military potentials, and especially the absolutely brazen practice of drilling nuclear missions, damages international security, destabilizes the global situation, and may have disastrous consequences," Zakharova said.