The Biden administration is planning to conduct its annual strategic nuclear exercise with NATO and said it believes Russia will do the same thing.
National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Thursday that the exercise had been “planned well before the invasion, and it’s an annual exercise,” and he noted, “We expect Russia to conduct its annual strategic nuclear exercise,” which he said is also a yearly occurrence.
BIDEN RIPS ‘UTTER BRUTALITY’ OF PUTIN’S STRIKES ON UKRAINE
“We anticipate the [Russians’] exercise will span several days. It will include actions within the normal bounds of what Russia has done in the past to include live missile launchers and the deployment of strategic assets,” he continued. “While Russia probably believes this exercise will help it project power, particularly in light of recent events, we know that Russian nuclear units train extensively at this time of year, again, routine, and obviously, we’re going to continue to monitor that accordingly.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg opted to move ahead with next week’s test, saying, earlier this week, “Now is the right time to be firm and to be clear that NATO is there to protect and defend all allies.”
“We need to understand that NATO’s firm, predictable behavior, our military strength, is the best way to prevent escalation,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “We are there to preserve peace, to prevent escalation, and to prevent any attack on NATO ally countries. So, if we now created the grounds for any misunderstanding, miscalculation [in] Moscow about our willingness to protect and defend all allies, it would increase the risk of escalation, and that’s the last thing we will do.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test that had been scheduled for March, in the second week of the conflict, in order “to demonstrate that we have no intention of engaging in any actions that could be misunderstood or misconstrued,” while Stoltenberg said he believes canceling the exercise could send a message of weakness to the Kremlin.
Stoltenberg, on Thursday, said that the alliance will monitor Russia’s exercise.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“We have monitored Russian nuclear forces for decades, and, of course, we will continue to monitor them very closely, and we will stay vigilant — also when they now start a new exercise,” he said, according to Reuters. “We will monitor that as we always do. And, of course, we will remain vigilant, not least in light of the veiled nuclear threats and the dangerous rhetoric we have seen from the Russian side.”
This week marks a new turn in the war as Russian forces launched a mass missile launch targeting dozens of cities and villages across the country. Kyiv, the capital, has been under rocket fire this week, while the city had mostly been spared from the war once it moved west.
