UN Ambassador Anatoly Antonov urged Washington to “return all the nuclear weapons deployed overseas back to its national territory, eliminate overseas infrastructure for their storage and maintenance, and to abandon the practice of simulating the use of such weapons.”

United Nations, November 1 (RHC)-- Russia has called on the United States to return all nuclear weapons stationed overseas to national territory to “prevent escalation” of tensions.  Ambassador Anatoly Antonov urged Washington to “return all the nuclear weapons deployed overseas back to its national territory, eliminate overseas infrastructure for their storage and maintenance, and to abandon the practice of simulating the use of such weapons.”

“In these times of tensions and increased risks, nuclear states have a special responsibility to prevent escalation,” the Russian ambassador said.  Antonov also called on the White House to “stop the practice of testing the use of such munitions with the involvement of military personnel of non-nuclear states, as part of NATO ‘joint nuclear missions,’ contrary to the fundamental principles of the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons).”

The ambassador also warned Washington against its plan of expediting the updated nuclear warheads to Europe.
"As for U.S. air-dropped bombs, they are deployed to European countries with short flight times to Russia’s border.  This is why B61-12 bombs have strategic importance despite their limited capacity."

Antonov referred to a report this week by Politico, which said Washington had accelerated the upgraded B61-12 air-dropped gravity bomb to NATO bases in Europe.  Citing a U.S. diplomatic cable and two people familiar with the issue, Politico reported that the arrival of the nuclear bomb, originally slated for next spring, is now planned for December.

The B61 is a family of nuclear bombs first developed in the early 1960s and initially demonstrated in underground nuclear tests in Nevada.