Russia warns NATO nuclear facilities in Poland, says, 'could become military target'

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov speaks during a briefing in the Patriot military park, outside Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 23, 2019. The Russian 9M729 land-based cruise missile, contrary to the allegations of the United States, does not fall under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), senior Russian officials said Wednesday. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi/IANS)

Moscow, April 25 - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Thursday warned that NATO nuclear facilities, if permanently located on the Polish territory, will become a military target for Russia.

"The expansion of the practice of joint NATO nuclear missions - regardless of who becomes that country or those countries that can join those already participating in this practice - is of a purely destabilising nature. And in fact, threatening," Ryabkov said, Xinhua news agency reported.

In an interview with Russia's TASS news agency, he said that the approach of joint nuclear missions by NATO countries near Russian borders exacerbates security threats.

"I'm not even talking about permanent deployment, which is also being hotly discussed by hotheads in Warsaw. Therefore, all those politicians who are now enthusiastically discussing such a scheme in Poland and beyond, for their own reasons, must understand: shifts in this direction will not add to Poland's security, but the corresponding facilities will certainly become a target. They will be at the forefront of our military planning," he stressed.

Ryabkov referred to the ongoing discussion about deploying NATO nuclear facilities in Poland as an "evolving story."

Moscow closely monitors how Warsaw addresses this topic, he said.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, in an interview with the Fakt newspaper on Monday, stated that the Polish authorities have repeatedly discussed with the US the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons in Poland within the framework of NATO's nuclear sharing arrangements and expressed readiness for it if necessary.

--IANS