Russia considers arming Baltic fleet
LONDON- Russia is considering arming its Baltic fleet with nuclear warheads for the first time since the cold war, warned senior military sources late August 17.
The Sunday Times wrote that under the Russian plans, nuclear warheads could be supplied to submarines, cruisers and fighter bombers of the Baltic fleet based in Kaliningrad.
A senior military source in Moscow
said the fleet had suffered from insufficient funds since the collapse of
communism.
"That will change now," said the source. "In view of America's determination to set up a missile
defense shield in Europe, the military is reviewing all its plans to give Washington an adequate
response."
The proposal to bring back nuclear warheads was condemned by Kurt Volker, the US ambassador
to NATO, who said he knew of the threat.
The warnings came 24 hours after Russia
told Poland that it could
face a nuclear strike for agreeing to let the United States station components of
the missile defense shield on its soil.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry finds this plan completely unacceptable.
"This could be viewed as Russia's harsh pressure against sovereign neighboring states, which it would still prefer to consider its zone of influence," the Foreign Ministry said in a press release.
The Sunday Times cited an unnamed Russian officer as saying that Russia was for the first time after the end of
the cold war considering the possibility of deploying arms with nuclear warheads
in its Baltic Fleet in the Kaliningrad
region.
Russia has informed Poland that its permit for the US deployment of missile defense
elements in its territory could lead to a threat of nuclear attack.
Russia has also mentioned
that the nuclear missiles in its bases in Kaliningrad
and Belarus could be
targeted at Western Europe, pledging to consider the possibility of again
dispatching troops to Cuba.
US
envoy to NATO Kurt Walker has criticized the plans of supplying nuclear weapons
to the Russian Baltic Fleet.
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