Question: On May 15, US Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher presumed in her Twitter account that Poland could house the US nuclear capabilities currently based in Germany. Will you comment on this idea?
Maria Zakharova: Of course, we noted Madam Mosbacher’s tweet posted in response to an article by her counterpart in Germany, Richard Grenell, about the contribution Berlin is expected to make to NATO’s nuclear policy. In light of the growing debates in Germany regarding the expediency of the continued presence of non-strategic US nuclear weapons in Germany, the US Ambassador to Germany actually presented an ultimatum, saying that Berlin, instead of eroding the trans-Atlantic solidarity, should be more responsible about its obligations – specifically, according to Grenell, clearly confirm its commitments to sustaining the US nuclear weapons in Europe, and through increased and continued investments in NATO’s nuclear potential.
The US ambassador’s article provided a clear picture of the state of trans-Atlantic solidarity, when the main partner takes the liberty to openly put pressure on and even blackmail its allies. The goal is to force them into increasing contributions to military programmes and buying US-made weapons, including dual-capable aircraft. On the other hand, it is for the allies themselves to choose the form of their relationship.
However, the scale of the problem has broken out of the limits of internal NATO discussions. Russia’s position on NATO’s nuclear sharing is well known. We believe that it directly violates Articles I and II of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Läs intervjun