Russia condemns French-Polish plan for nuclear strike drills against Russia, Belarus

Elena Teslova

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday condemned statements by France and Poland about holding large-scale military exercises involving training strikes with nuclear weapons against Russia and Belarus.

“We are closely monitoring the corresponding openly provocative activities of the EU and NATO countries in the military-nuclear sphere, including the increasing involvement of nominally non-nuclear countries from the Western camp,” she said at a media briefing in Moscow.

Zakharova stressed that the moves cause irreparable damage to the global nuclear nonproliferation regime and hinder the achievement of its goals.

Paris and Warsaw announced plans last Friday for holding exercises in the Baltic involving Rafale fighter jets equipped with nuclear warheads, which will simulate strikes on targets in Russia and Belarus.​​​​​​​