Russia views France’s nuclear-capable missile launch as a “loud and clear message” and will take “all necessary measures” to protect itself, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
The French military test-fired a submarine-launched M51.3 ballistic missile on Tuesday, in an exercise in the Atlantic Ocean watched by French President Emmanuel Macron. The weapon, a new variant of France’s 16-year-old M51 missile family, was launched without a warhead and splashed down in the North Atlantic, “hundreds of kilometres from any coastline,” according to the French military.
In a video message, Macron described the test as “a new demonstration of the credibility of our deterrence,” and “a clear message… for wherever it must be received.”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Peskov said: “Problems should be resolved through dialogue, not demonstrative missile launches.”
“Europe has become obsessed with plans to militarize the European Union,” he continued. “This is bad because they are building their defense and security identity on confrontation with the Russian Federation. This is a dead end. As history has shown, this leads to nothing good.”
“Against the backdrop of such aggressive actions and such plans, Russia is on alert,” Peskov added. “We are taking all necessary measures to ensure our national security at the strategic level.”
Outside the US, France possesses NATO’s only independent nuclear arsenal, which Macron is currently modernizing and expanding. France plans to spend €7.4 billion ($8.3 billion) on nuclear deterrence in 2026, while its updated military program adds €36 billion to overall defense spending through 2030. Much of this money will be spent on multi-year submarine, missile, and warhead contracts, but a substantial sum will go toward Paris’ controversial “forward deterrence scheme.”
Under this scheme, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and the UK will potentially host French nuclear weapons on a temporary basis and take part in French nuclear exercises.
Russia, which possesses the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, cannot view the deployment of atomic weapons on its borders “as anything other than a step toward escalating tensions,” Peskov said on Tuesday. Peskov was responding to the Lithuanian parliament’s vote to remove a constitutional ban on hosting nuclear weapons on its soil. Although Lithuania has not signed on to France’s “forward deterrence” plan, Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas has expressed interest in hosting American nukes in Lithuania.
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