Moscow threatens Washington with nuclear response in case of ballistic missile attack

MOSCOW- The deployment of low-yield nuclear warheads by the United States is a dangerous step that leads to destabilization, Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday, according to Itar Tass News Agency.

“We noted the article, published by the US State Department’s  official website on April 24 and devoted to the issue of creating W76-2 low-yield nuclear warheads and deploying it on some of its Trident submarines,” she said. “As we have already said may times, we view this as a dangerous step. We believe that it carries a certain element of destabilization.”

 Zakharova stressed that any attack with the use of US submarine-launched ballistic missiles, regardless of their characteristics, will be viewed by Russia as an attack with the use of nuclear weapons and, therefore, a basis for a retaliatory strike.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier said the US production of W76-2 missiles lowers the nuclear threshold and increases the risk of a nuclear conflict.

Source: Tass