Russia will take into account modernisation of U.S. nuclear bombs in Europe - RIA

Russia, in its military planning, will take into account the modernisation of U.S. nuclear bombs deployed in Europe, RIA news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko.

Earlier this week, Politico, citing a U.S. diplomatic cable and two people familiar with the issue, reported that the United States had accelerated the deployment of its modernised B61-12 tactical nuclear weapons to NATO bases in Europe.

He said that the accelerated deployment of modernised U.S. B61 tactical nuclear weapons at NATO bases in Europe would lower the "nuclear threshold" and that Russia would take the move into account in its military planning.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has triggered the gravest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis when the two Cold War superpowers came closest to nuclear war.

Russia has around 2,000 working tactical nuclear weapons while the United States has around 200 such weapons.

"We cannot ignore the plans to modernize nuclear weapons, those free-fall bombs that are in Europe," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told state RIA news agency.

The 12-ft B61-12 gravity bomb carries a lower yield nuclear warhead than many earlier versions but is more accurate and can penetrate below ground, according to research by the Federation of American Scientists.

"The United States is modernizing them, increasing their accuracy and reducing the power of the nuclear charge, that is, they turn these weapons into 'battlefield weapons', thereby reducing the nuclear threshold," Grushko said.