"Reckless rhetoric." United States believes Russia's nuclear threats are bluff

The US sees no signs of Russia preparing to use nuclear weapons, despite the country's "aggressive rhetoric", the coordinator of the US National Security Council for strategic communications, John Kirby, and the spokesman of the US State Department, Matthew Miller, said at a briefing, the Voice of America reports.

Kirby called Russia's threats "reckless and irresponsible tinkering" with a nuclear arsenal. The United States continues to monitor the situation, but currently there is no evidence of preparations for the use of nuclear weapons by Moscow.

"I can tell you that so far we have not seen anything, even with the reckless rhetoric, that would cause us to change our posture of strategic deterrence," the White House official said.

Miller added that Russia's rhetoric was "irresponsible and reckless" throughout the war against Ukraine.

"However, we have seen no reason to adjust our own nuclear posture in response to these statements, nor any signs that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine," he said.

On May 6, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that, on the instructions of the dictator Vladimir Putin, in order to "increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to carry out combat missions", the General Staff of the Russian Federation began preparations for conducting exercises with missile formations involving the aviation and navy in the near future.

In May 2023, Russia finally withdrew from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which provided for the destruction of surplus weapons. The Russian Federation also canceled the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and suspended participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties.

In April 2024, Russia vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution against the proliferation of weapons, including nuclear weapons, in outer space.