The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Monday launched a nuclear exercise involving dozens of aircraft flying over southern Europe which come on the heels of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that Moscow would change its doctrine determining how it would use nuclear weapons.
The annual two-week exercise dubbed “Steadfast Noon” had been long planned and involve aircraft capable of carrying U.S. nuclear warheads, but does not involve any live weapons, the alliance said in a statement.
However, the drills follow tensions between NATO and Moscow, which have spiked further after Putin announced last month a shift in Russia’s nuclear doctrine to consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power as a joint attack. It raised the prospect that this could include Ukraine, which is backed by Western allies and their weapons, amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war that began in February 2022.
Putin has repeatedly made eyebrow-raising statements about nuclear weapons amid the war as Moscow has more nuclear warheads than any other country, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICANW).
In June, the Russian leader said the possibility of his country using nuclear weapons should “not be taken lightly” by the West.
The NATO drills starting Monday involve 2,000 military personnel from eight airbases, with flights mainly over host countries Belgium and the Netherlands and in airspace over Denmark, the United Kingdom and the North Sea.
They include nuclear-capable jets, bombers, fighter escorts, refueling aircraft and planes capable of reconnaissance and electronic missions. The first allied F-35A fighter aircraft from the Netherlands are also ready to perform nuclear roles.
Without mentioning Russia, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in the military bloc’s statement that the exercise “is an important test of the alliance’s nuclear deterrent and sends a clear message to any adversary that NATO will protect and defend all Allies.”
Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.
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Starting in May, Russia held joint drills with Belarus to practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons whose use on the battlefield has been subject to speculation since the start of Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Ministry linked the drills to what it describes as “militant statements” by France, the U.K. and the delivery to Ukraine of U.S. Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS).
Analysts doubt that Putin would resort to nuclear weapons, but he ramped up the rhetoric about Russia’s nuclear threats at the end of September that Rutte dubbed “reckless and irresponsible” although experts have described it as another step in the Kremlin’s information campaign rather than a clear warning of intent.
Russia’s nuclear doctrine states how nuclear weapons could be used in response to first strikes or attacks that represent an existential threat to Russia, although this latter circumstance is not clearly defined.
However, Putin said he would consider using nuclear weapons if it detected the start of a massive launch of missiles, aircraft and drones into its territory that posed a “critical threat” to its sovereignty.