A NATO nuclear deterrence exercise called Steadfast Noon will start on Monday, October 17, and will last for a fortnight, until October 30. Units from 14 bloc countries and up to 60 aircraft of different types, including fourth and fifth generation fighters, surveillance aircraft and tankers, will take part in the maneuvers, the alliance press service said.
“As in previous years, the exercise will involve US B-52 long-range bombers, which this year will fly from Maynott Air Force Base in North Dakota. Training flights will take place over Belgium, which organizes the exercise, as well as the North Sea and the United Kingdom,” the alliance informed.
They stressed that the manoeuvres were a normal annual event and “were not related to any events taking place in the world”. Furthermore, NATO specified that no military weapons would be used during the exercises.
According to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, the exercise is aimed at “preserving the reliability, security and effectiveness of NATO’s deterrence capabilities”. At the same time, he drew attention to some “veiled nuclear threats” allegedly coming from Russia during his speech on 11 October. Stoltenberg also rejected suggestions that the exercises, amid the bloc’s tense relations with Russia, would contribute to an escalation of the situation.
“Now is the time to show firmness and make it clear that NATO exists to protect and defend all allies… I think if we suddenly cancelled regular and long-planned exercises, that would be a very wrong signal. A categorically wrong signal,” the secretary-general said.
Alliance response
The routine character of current exercises is emphasized in the United States as well. In an online briefing on October 13, John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, noted that maneuvers of NATO strategic forces take place annually.
“The exercises will involve NATO fighters and US B-52 bombers, but without actual munitions… And they will take place far from Russia – over 600 miles,” he explained.
At the same time, Kirby made a claim that Russia is also planning to hold exercises among its own nuclear forces in the coming days.
“Russia appears to believe that these exercises – especially in light of recent events – will help it demonstrate strength, but we know that Russian nuclear units are conducting intensive training at this time of year. Again, regular exercises,” he said.
Meanwhile, members of the Western establishment have already rushed to condemn the manoeuvres, which have not yet been officially announced in Moscow.
“We believe Russia’s nuclear rhetoric and its decision to embark on these exercises amid conflict with Ukraine is an irresponsible move,” a Pentagon source told Reuters on 14 October.
Another agency’s interlocutor from among Western politicians expressed the opinion that Russia will soon resume its nuclear rhetoric to allegedly take advantage of its exercises “in terms of strategic communication”.
Notably, while the NATO leadership and Washington call the current nuclear exercises an ordinary event, one of the participants in the manoeuvres, represented by Poland, sees no need to hide their anti-Russian orientation.
“We know that Putin is using threats related to the possible use of nuclear weapons. So the response of the North Atlantic Alliance is to exercise using one of its many trump cards – the trump card of having nuclear weapons,” RIA Novosti quoted Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak as telling journalists after the meeting of NATO defence ministers on 13 October.
In violation of the NPT
In response to NATO’s announcement of a strategic force exercise, Moscow said it was aware of the regularity of the Steadfast Noon manoeuvres.
“There is no ’emergency’ in this, these are regular events. Of course, their scenarios may differ, it’s not always in the same order and sequence,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov remarked on October 14.
At the same time, the diplomat stressed that the importance of these exercises cannot be underestimated, especially in light of the “aggressive nuclear rhetoric that Russia hears from its Western adversaries. He also noted that in general, NATO’s nuclear manoeuvres go against the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
“I am referring to the joint nuclear missions of NATO countries in which personnel of non-nuclear states are involved in training activities with nuclear weapons,” Ryabkov specified.
Recall that NATO at the end of the Madrid summit of the alliance secured the status of a nuclear politico-military bloc, spelling this provision in the final declaration. Long before that, the US had deployed its nuclear weapons on the territory of several NATO countries. But the alliance claims that as well as carrying out missions to practice nuclear deterrence together with non-nuclear weapon states, this point was allegedly agreed as early as the NPT preparation stage.
“We believe such arguments are nothing more than excuses to justify actions that run counter to the key provisions of the NPT, which is recognized as the cornerstone of international security,” Andrei Belousov, deputy head of the Russian delegation, said at the August review conference.
The NATO press office stressed on 14 October that the alliance will remain a nuclear alliance as long as nuclear weapons exist.
“They are designed to make us nervous.”
Alexander Mikhailov, head of the Bureau of Political and Military Analysis, noted in a conversation with RT that the current exercises fit into the West’s concept of a hybrid offensive against Russia.
“These maneuvers, which will take place a thousand kilometres away from Russia’s borders, are designed to make us nervous. After all, international rhetoric is now heightened, especially on the Ukrainian issue. It is the West through its media that is trying to convince the world that today or tomorrow Russia will allegedly use its tactical nuclear weapons. They are trying to provoke Moscow because they really want it to take this step. However, we are acting very cautiously in this matter”, the expert explained.
Konstantin Blokhin of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Centre for Security Studies shares the same opinion. According to him, the manoeuvres are purely anti-Russian, despite Western statements to the contrary.
“I think this will be some kind of culmination of the nuclear hysteria developed by the Western media at the behest of the US about Russia’s alleged possible use of tactical weapons. These manoeuvres are a blatant demonstration of force and an attempt to put psychological pressure on Russia,” the analyst said in a conversation with RT.
In his view, in this context, it was pointless to expect NATO to postpone its maneuvers in order to reduce the degree of tension in relations with Russia.
“The Alliance is not interested in de-escalation, so we should not expect any goodwill gestures from it. On the contrary, its task now is to show Russia playing with its muscles in order to scare it and make it think about ending the special military operation in Ukraine. Although everyone is well aware that the alliance is unlikely to use nuclear weapons in defence of Kiev. After all, this will provoke a third world war, which will be the last one for the mankind,” Blokhin said.
For his part, Aleksandr Mikhailov stressed that Russia is now at the peak of its military form, so Western exercises should not worry it.
“Of course, we should not let our guard down. But I am sure that all NATO movements are closely monitored by Russian forces. If necessary, Moscow will be able to prevent them from carrying out any manoeuvres that would seem inappropriate to Russia. Also, I would not write off the possibility of minor provocations,” the expert concluded.
Polina Dukhanova, Alyona Medvedeva, RT