US must abide by NPT & bring back all its nuclear weapons stationed abroad, says Russia

Russia's Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, on Saturday warned the US of an escalation, asking the latter to return all its nuclear weapons from Europe. Antonov asked Washington to adhere to the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons treaty (NPT) and withdraw the nuclear arsenal from the European bases. He also urged that the US must dismantle the nuclear infrastructure used for storage and use in the EU. 

Antonov threatened the United States against its plan of expediting the updated nuclear warheads to Europe, which were scheduled for storage and possible deployment in 2024. The US announced that the updated nuclear bombs will now arrive this December, citing the security threat from Russia's military aggression.

"I once again urge Washington to return all nuclear weapons stationed abroad to national territory and to eliminate the foreign infrastructure for their storage and maintenance," said Antonov. Further, he stressed that the US needs to "stop the practice of testing the use of such munitions with the involvement of military personnel of non-nuclear states, as part of NATO ‘joint nuclear missions,’ contrary to the fundamental principles of the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons)." 

Modernisation of US B61 nuclear weapons underway for years

The recent decision of ramping up the upgradation of the nuclear bombs was made by the Pentagon due to looming security threats posed by Russia's ongoing offensive in Europe's eastern flank. The B61-12 variant, upgraded by the United States for Europe, would include the tail kit to improve accuracy and will allow variable yield capability, with a yield ranging from 0.3 KT to 170 KT for both strategic and tactical use. The older weapons will be replaced by the newer version at various storage facilities in Europe for potential use by the United States and NATO-allied bombers and fighter jets. They can be loaded onto dual-capable NATO-designated fighters such as the F-35A, the F-18 Super Hornet, or the Eurofighter Typhoon. Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told Politico via an email that “while we aren’t going to discuss details of our nuclear arsenal, modernization of US B61 nuclear weapons has been underway for years."