[D66] ‘Steadfast Noon’: NATO plans nuclear exercise despite Russia's warnings

[René Oudeweg]

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steadfast_Noon


livemint.com
<https://www.livemint.com/news/world/steadfast-noon-nato-plans-nuclear-exercise-despite-russia-s-warnings-all-you-need-to-know-11665503956862.html>


  ‘Steadfast Noon’: NATO plans nuclear exercise despite Russia's warnings.


  Livemint

4-5 minutes
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members are liekly to push
and conduct a long-planned nuclear exercise next week, NATO
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday. This move comes despite
rising tensions over the war in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin's
insistence that he is not bluffing about using all available means to
defend Russian territory.

The official statement said that the exercise has been dubbed 'Steadfast
Noon'
<https://www.livemint.com/news/final-stage-of-reign-but-still-has-room-for-zelensky-on-vladimir-putin-as-russia-steps-up-war-ukraine-11665501703138.html>.
This will be held annually and will continue for about a week. 


    *About ‘Steadfast Noon’*

It involves fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear warheads but does
not involve any live bombs. Conventional jets, and surveillance and
refuelling aircraft also routinely take part.

Fourteen of the 30 NATO member countries will be involved in the
exercise, which was planned before Russia invadedUkraine
<https://www.livemint.com/news/india/indiauae-exploring-mechanism-to-carry-out-bilateral-trade-in-national-currencies-11665501137682.html>in
February.

The main part of the maneuvers would be held more than 1,000 kilometers
from Russia, a NATO official said.


    Impact on Russia-Ukraine war

“It would send a very wrong signal if we suddenly now cancelled a
routine, long-time planned exercise because of the war in Ukraine. That
would be absolutely the wrong signal to send," Stoltenberg told
reporters on the eve of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

“NATO's firm, predictable behaviour, our military strength, is the best
way to prevent escalation," he said. “If we now created the grounds for
any misunderstandings, miscalculations in Moscow about our willingness
to protect and defend all allies, we would increase the risk of escalation."

With the Russian army retreating under the blows of Ukrainian forces
armed with Western weapons, Putin raised the stakes by annexing four
Ukrainian regions and declaring a partial mobilisation of up to 300,000
reservists to buttress the crumbling front line.

As his war plans have gone awry, Putin has repeatedly signalled that he
could resort to nuclear weapons to protect the Russian gains.

The threat is also aimed at deterring NATO nations from sending more
sophisticated weapons to Ukraine.


    Nuclear weapons with NATO

It is to be noted that NATO as an organisation does not possess any
weapons. The nuclear weapons nominally linked to NATO
<https://www.livemint.com/news/world/imf-cuts-2023-global-growth-warns-major-economies-to-stall-11665496829204.html>remain
under the firm control of three member countries — the US, UK and
France. The alliance's secretive Nuclear Planning Group will meet on
Thursday among defense ministers.

Stoltenberg described Putin's spiraling nuclear rhetoric as “dangerous
and reckless," and underlined that the allies “have also conveyed
clearly to Russia that it will have severe consequences if they use
nuclear weapons in any way."

"We are closely monitoring Russia's nuclear forces," Stoltenberg said.
“We have not seen any changes in Russia's posture, but we remain vigilant."

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