Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal introduced a resolution in the upper chamber of Congress that Russia’s use of nuclear weapons should be considered an attack on NATO, Kommersant reported June 23, quoting Graham’s Twitter. The resolution is advisory in nature.
The key provisions of the document are:
– Russia’s deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus poses a threat to Ukraine and NATO member states;
– Russia’s or Belarus’ or “their proxies” use of any tactical nuclear weapons or destruction of any nuclear facility or spreading radioactive contaminants on the NATO territory “requires an immediate response”, including invoking Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which stipulates that if one NATO member state has become a victim of an armed attack, it is considered an act of violence against the whole alliance;
– the US administration, in consultation with leaders of NATO countries and other European partners, to develop a comprehensive response to Russian actions, minimize the threat to civilians and “coordinate diplomatic and military actions appropriate to the situation”.
Recall that in March Russia’s Vladimir Putin said that by July 1 the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would be finished. According to Ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov, the nuclear weapons will be moved to the western borders of the Union State (Kommersant information). On June 13, Aleksandr Lukashenko said he could not hesitate to use these nuclear weapons, but only if Belarus was attacked.
“Kommersant” quoted Joe Biden on June 20 as saying that he considered the threat of a nuclear strike by Russia to be real.
