“On October 23, 2020, the Defense Attaché at the German Embassy in Moscow was invited to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The German military representative was informed about the position of the Russian Ministry of Defense in connection with the participation of the German side in the NATO exercises Steadfast Noon and Resilient Guard, during which elements of the use of American tactical nuclear weapons are being worked out, ”the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The military attaché was told that the involvement of personnel and dual-use aircraft of "non-nuclear" NATO member countries in the development of scenarios for the use of nuclear weapons is a flagrant violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the department said.
"Such actions lead to a lowering of the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, provoke a further increase in tension along the Russia-NATO contact line and negatively affect the level of trust in Europe," the defense ministry said.
Earlier, the United States said that Washington and Moscow are close to extending START III for a year.