'Washington is not just modernizing its nuclear forces, but is striving to give them new capabilities, which significantly expands the likelihood of their use,' Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
Russia has criticized the Trump administration's pursuit and deployment of low-yield nuclear warheads, arguing it may raise the prospects of a nuclear conflict. At the same time, however, the United States estimates its top foe has up to 2,000 such warheads.
"Of particular concern in this regard are U.S. actions to increase the range of low-power assets in its nuclear arsenal, including the development and deployment of such munitions for strategic carriers. This clearly leads to lowering the 'threshold' for the use of nuclear weapons," she added. The Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Tennessee arrives at the Trident Refit Facility dry dock at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, for a maintenance period, August 13, 2019. The vessel is capable of carrying up to 20 submarine-launched ballistic missiles with multiple warheads, one or two of which are believed to be equipped with the W76-2 warhead, according to the Federation of American Scientists.The U.S.
Speaking frankly at his testimony to the House Armed Services Committee last week, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Army General Mark Milley again brought up Russia as the top priority for U.S. nuclear modernization efforts."They are the only country on the Earth that represents a, no kidding, existential threat to the United States," he told lawmakers.
The Russian military tests the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle at the Dombarovsky Air Base near near Yasny in Russia's Orenburg province, December 26, 2018. The weapon was said capable of traveling more than 20 times the speed of sound, delivering a missile faster than any existing defense.But Moscow has dismissed this line of reasoning, arguing that Washington was the clear aggressor.
. On Friday, Zakharova further castigated the U.S. approach to nuclear modernization, telling reporters:"One gets the impression that in Washington they have decided to purposefully consider nuclear conflict as a viable political option and create the corresponding potential for this."She accused the U.S. of trying to justify its actions by blaming Russia and China."We consider such plans destabilizing," Zakharova argued.
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