Russia: "Claims of Possible Nuclear Weapon Use in Ukraine Are Slander"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A Russian official at the Russian Mission to the United Nations stated on the 4th (local time) that the claim that Russia might use nuclear weapons in its military operation in Ukraine is slanderous, and that the situation in Ukraine does not meet the criteria for the use of nuclear weapons.

TASS news agency reported that Dmitry Polyansky, First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, said at the UN Disarmament Commission meeting that "we hear provocative slander from irresponsible Western politicians and experts suggesting that Russia might use nuclear weapons in the special military operation in Ukraine."

He said, "The claim (about the possibility of using nuclear weapons) has no rational basis whatsoever and aims to incite anti-Russian hysteria," adding, "It targets the general public who do not understand Russia's defense and security policies." He emphasized, "Russia's nuclear weapons can only be used in response to the use of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction against Russia and its allies, or if the very existence of the Russian state is threatened by a conventional weapons attack." He argued that such criteria absolutely cannot be applied to the current scenario unfolding in Ukraine.

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, also stated in an interview with the US CNN last month that "Russia's national security concept stipulates that nuclear weapons are to be used only when the existence of the state is at risk."

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