MOSCOW. Oct 20 (Interfax) - The U.S. military has begun active efforts to upgrade tactical nuclear weapons and the bases storing them in European countries, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
"The United States, fully backed by its NATO allies, has intensified work to modernize tactical nuclear munitions and their storage sites in Europe," Shoigu said a meeting of the joint board of the Russian and Belarusian defense ministries.
"It is also a matter of particular concern that pilots from the bloc's non-nuclear member countries have been involved in exercises to practice using tactical nuclear weapons," he said.