In response to the recent agreement signed by Poland allowing the deployment of US missile defense shield systems on its soil, Russia is considering arming its Baltic fleet with nuclear warheads, for the first time since the cold war.
A report in the London bases Sunday Times revealed that the new Russian threat is in response to the Polish and US agreement and comes during the violent conflict in the Caucasus where Russia's military continues to maintain the upper hand.
According to the report, the Russian nuclear warheads could be supplied to submarines, cruisers and fighter bombers of the Baltic fleet based in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania. A senior military source in Moscow admitted that the fleet had suffered from underfunding since the collapse of communism, but told The Sunday Times that “that will change now." "In view of America’s determination to set up a missile defense shield in Europe, the military is reviewing all its plans to give Washington an adequate response,” said the source.
According to the report, the proposal to bring back nuclear warheads was condemned by Kurt Volker, the US ambassador to Nato, who said he knew of the threat. “It is really unfortunate that Russia chooses to react by putting nuclear warheads in different places – if indeed it does that – when the rest of the world is not looking at some kind of old-fashioned superpower conflict,” he said. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that Washington's deal with Poland to shows the rocket shield is really directed against his country. 08/17/08
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