Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO.pdf - Program on Strategic ...

consequences for Russia’s nuclear deterrence policy,
regularly issuing warnings about their likely measures
in response. In the logic of Russian experts, TNWs may
play a decisive role in Russian plans for countermeasures
against BMD in Europe by posing a hypothetical
threat to the sites of the BMD system’s missiles <strong>and</strong>
radars. A recent comment by Deputy Chief of the Russian
General Staff <strong>and</strong> Head of the Main Operational
Directorate General Andrey Tretiak, on the plans for
a gradual buildup of U.S. BMD in Europe, once again
demonstrates deep dissatisfaction in Russia:
The possibility for the destruction of Russian intercontinental
ballistic missiles <strong>and</strong> submarine-based ballistic
missiles becomes a reality. If the implementation of
<strong>NATO</strong> plans on creating a BMD system, on the basis
of a four-stage adaptive approach, continue without
taking into account Russian opinion—<strong>and</strong> more so,
without Russian participation—we will not be able to
accept this threat to a key element of our national security,
the strategic deterrence forces. It will compel us
to adopt measures in response that would compensate
for the negative influence of the <strong>NATO</strong> BMD system. 7
Russian concern over the consequences to the strategic
balance present in the linkage among <strong>NATO</strong>,
BMD, <strong>and</strong> Russian TNWs is underst<strong>and</strong>able, as are the
reasons why Russians link the possibility of deployment
of U.S. weapons in space <strong>and</strong> Russian TNWs.
They would be very much interested to know to what
extent the United States is ready to discuss the space
system’s deployment in the context of TNWs: “The
problem lies in the fact that deployment of weapons
in space, even while reducing the levels of [strategic
<strong>and</strong> tactical nuclear weapons] between Russia <strong>and</strong> the
U.S., may fundamentally undermine the global strategic
stability.” 8
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