NATO has dismissed a Russian threat to use nuclear weapons over an alleged planned blockade of Kaliningrad, with Secretary General Mark Rutte calling it irresponsible rhetoric.
Vladimir Putin sent a letter to Brussels warning that Moscow would be ready to use its entire arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend its territory. The diplomatic memo claimed Russia had information that NATO was preparing an air and naval blockade of Kaliningrad.
NATO responds to Russian memo
The letter, sent to member states, stated that Russia "will be ready to use the entire arsenal of forces and capabilities at its disposal, including nuclear weapons, in order to defend its territory".
NATO spokesperson Allison Hart confirmed on Wednesday that Russia had sent a written, "non-paper" message to the alliance. She said NATO is not targeting Kaliningrad and had sent a reply, "noting that NATO is a defensive alliance and none of our activities or exercises pose a risk to any part of Russia". She said the alliance "strongly denounces the threat of force".
Rutte: 'Stop the nuclear threat'
Secretary General Mark Rutte dismissed the threat as "irresponsible nuclear rhetoric" and said he does not believe Putin will follow through. Speaking at the Euronews Defense and Space Summit, he said: "We will defend every inch of NATO territory. That threat is not there, and if anything happens, we are ready to counter it."
"We are a defensive alliance. Stop the nuclear threat. This is absolutely not called for and not helpful. And particularly stop the war in Ukraine, which is an unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine," he added.
Europe urged to take more responsibility
Rutte warned that Europe must become more "capable" of handling high-level security threats without relying so heavily on Washington. "Why are the Americans doing it, taking out the Iranian nuclear capability? Because we can't. But in the future, we have to make sure that as Europeans, we can do this ourselves," he said.
"Still, the US being involved not only in the nuclear sense but also in the conventional sense, but the Europeans taking much, much more responsibility for the defense of this part of NATO."
The threats came after Russian embassies, including in London, accused European leaders of "playing a dangerous game". Russia threatened to unleash "nuclear weapons" against Britain in a statement from its UK embassy, which also said the "prospect of a hypothetical strike" was explored in Sky TV show The Wargame.
The Russian statement referenced an article in The i Paper on Kaliningrad, which suggested NATO could blockade the region or "de-recognise Russian sovereignty". Sky called the show "a provocative stress test on our leaders, our institutions and the country itself".
The threats were issued as Kyiv revealed how Russia and Iran are involved in a deadly intelligence-sharing loop, with Moscow helping Tehran to target US bases in the Middle East. On Tuesday, Estonia blamed Russia for an arson attack on a defence firm supplying uncrewed vehicles to Ukraine.
