The Security Council of Russia claimed that Russia has a unique weapon capable of destroying even the US. Russian Kremlin-aligned media outlets RIA Novosti and TASS with reference to Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Security Council
Quote from Patrushev: “Russia has a unique weapon, which is capable of destroying any opponent, mainly the US, in case there is a threat to Russia’s existence.”
Details: He also added that “American politicians’ certainty that Russia will not be able to respond to a preventive strike by the US is a short-sighted and dangerous foolishness.”
According to Yahoo News, Patrushev stated that after the collapse of the USSR, Russia allegedly “corrected its mistakes” and now “can facilitate both internal stability and protection from external dangers.” He also claimed that the US is trying to “suppress” Russia, and then will allegedly move on to China.
He traditionally repeated that “the West has seriously miscalculated, counting on the collapse of the Russian economy and protest of the population against sanctions”, and that Russia allegedly “remains calm” under the sanctions pressure.
A senior Russian diplomat said Moscow had suspended sharing information about its nuclear forces with the United States, including notices about missile tests.
Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said in remarks carried by news agencies that Moscow had halted all information exchanges with Washington after previously suspending its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms pact with the U.S.
Last month, Russian president Vladimir Putin suspended the New START treaty, saying Russia could not accept U.S. inspections of its nuclear sites under the agreement at a time when Washington and its Nato allies had openly declared Russia’s defeat in Ukraine as their goal.
According to NBC News, Moscow emphasized that it was not withdrawing from the pact altogether and would continue to respect the caps on nuclear weapons. The Russian foreign ministry initially said Moscow would keep notifying the U.S. about planned test launches of its ballistic missiles, but Ryabkov’s statement reflected a change of course.
“There will be no notifications at all,” Ryabkov said when asked if Moscow would also stop issuing notices about planned missile tests. “All notifications, all kinds of notifications, all activities under the treaty will be suspended and will not be conducted regardless of what position the US may take.” As part of Russian drills that began on Wednesday, Yars mobile missile launchers would manoeuvre across three regions of Siberia, Russia’s defence ministry said.
The movements would involve measures to conceal the deployment from foreign intelligence assets, the ministry added. The defence ministry did not mention plans for any practice launches.
The Yars is a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of over 6,800 miles. It forms the backbone of Russia’s strategic missile forces.
