Moscow warns US move to return nukes to UK soil would be viewed as step toward escalation
TASSSep 05, 2023
Report: US to Station Nuclear Weapons In UK
The Facts
According to Pentagon documents accessed by The Telegraph, the US could place nuclear warheads in the UK for the first time in 15 years to counter threats from Russia.
The procurement contracts suggest the US intends to station B61-12 gravity bombs — which are three times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima — at a new facility at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.
The Spin
Pro-Russia narrative
With their irresponsible actions and constant fearmongering, the US and its allies have been provoking destabilization in Europe and the entire Middle East. Russia would view the Pentagon's plan to station nuclear weapons in the UK — an openly confrontational move with the Kremlin — as an escalation, to which Moscow would respond sternly. Washington must immediately stop using unscrupulous tactics to justify its aggression.
Anti-Russia narrative
While the redacted documents do not indicate if the Pentagon would store nukes in the UK, it's imperative that the West is prepared amid rising tensions with Russia. The US and NATO are under pressure to transform their warfighting capabilities in the wake of unrest in Iran and North Korea — both Russian allies — and increasing air strikes in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthis. Moscow must face the consequences of starting an illegal war and stoking tensions in the Middle East.
Nerd narrative
There's a 28% chance that a nuclear weapon will be detonated as an act of war by 2050, according to the Metaculus prediction community.