Kremlin: Statements by Stoltenberg on deploying nuclear weapons represent 'escalation'

The Kremlin said on Monday that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's remarks about talks on deploying more nuclear weapons were an escalation.

NATO is in talks to deploy more nuclear weapons, taking them out of storage and placing them on standby, in the face of a growing threat from Russia and China, Stoltenberg told The Telegraph newspaper.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Stoltenberg's comments appeared to contradict the communique of the Ukraine Conference that said any threat or use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine context was inadmissible.

"This is nothing but another escalation of tension," Peskov said of the Stoltenberg remarks.

Russia says the United States and its European allies are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation by giving Ukraine billions of dollars worth of weapons, some of which are being used against Russian territory.

Reuters