Russia notifies US of nuclear drills

Russia has notified the United States about its plans to carry out annual military exercises using strategic nuclear forces.

Both the Pentagon and State Department said on Tuesday that Russia had complied with the terms of the last US-Russia arms control agreement in notifying Washington of the upcoming drills, code-named Grom.

Under the New START Treaty, both sides are obliged to provide advance notification of military exercises involving nuclear weapons.

“The US was notified,” Pentagon spokesman Air Force General Pat Ryder said. “And as we’ve highlighted before, this is a routine annual exercise by Russia. And so in this regard, Russia is complying with its arms control obligations and transparency commitments to make those notifications, and so that is something that we will continue to keep an eye on,” he said.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the notification was “important” in reducing the risk of “misperception” amid mounting fears Moscow may go nuclear in the Ukraine conflict.

“These notification measures ‘do’ ensure that we are not taken by surprise and reduce the risks of misperception,” he said.

SS