Alexander Trofimov, Head of the Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that such statements could be spread to "escalate anti-Russian hysteria"
UN, August 3. /tass/. Russia rejects accusations of threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. This was stated by Alexander Trofimov, head of the Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Foreign Ministry, speaking at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday at the conference of the countries participating in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
"We would like to strongly reject the absolutely groundless, detached from reality and unacceptable speculations that Russia is allegedly threatened with the use of nuclear weapons, in particular in Ukraine. We do not exclude that this is being done specifically for the purpose of whipping up anti-Russian hysteria," he said.
"Russian doctrinal attitudes on this issue are well known and extremely clear: we hypothetically allow a nuclear reaction solely in response to aggression with the use of weapons of mass destruction or in response to aggression with the use of conventional weapons, when the very existence of the state is threatened," Trofimov continued. "None of these hypothetical scenarios has anything to do with the situation in Ukraine."
As the representative of the Russian Federation stressed, Moscow considers one of the most important tasks "the preservation by all the countries of the nuclear Five of their commitment to the postulate of the prevention of nuclear war, confirmed by them in the January joint statement at the highest level." "Russia is fully committed to it," he said.
"With the aggravation of the Ukrainian crisis, which occurred due to the fault of the Kiev regime and its Western patrons, the message of this statement of the "five" has not only not lost its relevance, but also acquired additional sound. According to the logic confirmed in the aforementioned statement of the "five", any military confrontation between nuclear rivals should be prevented, as it is fraught with escalation to the nuclear level. This is the essence of Russia's warnings about the potential consequences of direct aggression by NATO countries against our country in the context of the Ukrainian crisis, which have actually moved to a fierce hybrid confrontation with Russia, dangerously balancing on the verge of open military confrontation," Trofimov said.
"Such a step would be able to trigger the development of events according to one of the two emergency scenarios described in our doctrine. Of course, we are in favor of preventing this. However, if Western countries try to test our resolve, Russia will not back down," he stated.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to the request of the leaders of the republics of Donbass for help. After that, the West imposed sanctions against Moscow and increased arms supplies to Kiev in the amount of billions of dollars.
