NATO to hold nuclear exercises as Russia plans to withdraw from test ban treaty
NATO will conduct a major exercise involving fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear warheads, though live bombs will not be involved in the drill, the alliance said on Oct. 12.
The alliance’s Steadfast Noon exercise is held each year and involves nuclear-capable aircraft, conventional jets, surveillance and refueling aircraft, and will involve over a dozen NATO allies.
The drills are scheduled for next Monday and are expected to continue until Oct. 26. Steadfast Noon will enhance the “credibility, effectiveness and security of our nuclear deterrent, and it sends a clear message that NATO will protect and defend all allies,” said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during an alliance conference.
President Volodymyr Zelensky met with NATO leaders on Oct. 11 who reassured Kyiv that military aid will continue as the war-torn country braces for winter.
Russia is expected to withdraw from the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which was adopted in 1996 and designed to govern nuclear testing, but never fully entered into force.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Oct. 10 that in the event of a U.S. nuclear test, Moscow “will be forced to mirror that as well.”
