Moscow Concerned About US Thesis Of Lowering Threshold For Nuclear Weapons Use - Zakharova

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th October, 2020) The US State Department's cybersecurity report contains anti-Russian statements bordering on rudeness, and the thesis about lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons is of particular concern, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday.

The US State Department published it report 'International Security in Cyberspace: New Models for Reducing Risk' on October 20.

"Of particular concern is the thesis in the report on lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. This is not the first time that such signals are heard from Washington," Zakharova said.

She recalled that "even as part of the revision of the US nuclear doctrine, the updated version of which was published in 2018, there were leaks in the media that the [US] administration assumed the use of nuclear arsenal in response to hostile actions in the information sphere."

"Already at that stage, we expressed our concerns in connection with such adjustments of US approaches in the military-nuclear sphere. Now it was finally confirmed that our fears were not groundless. The State Department's report directly states: the development of events within such a scenario is quite realistic. So, there is a new serious reason to think about where the irresponsible transformation of the US position can lead," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

In relation to cybersecurity, this document did not add anything new to the unfounded accusations against Russia, she noted.

"It reiterates the unsubstantiated accusations of 'irresponsible' Russian behavior in cyberaffairs. This topic still occupies one of the central places in the internal political confrontation for 'pumping up' its own audience in the framework of the election campaign," the statement says.

"However, our US colleagues have outdone themselves in anti-Russian rhetoric this time, having incorporated extremely harsh statements, sometimes bordering on plain rudeness, in their report. Such an approach does not honor the State Department and testifies to the fact that they treat culture and norms of interstate communication with complete disregard," Zakharova stressed.

In reality, Russia's approaches to the use of information and communication technologies have nothing to do with the way Washington is trying to present them, she said.

"Once again, we would like to remind you of the statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin of September 25, which contains proposals to the United States to start a constructive professional conversation on the entire range of issues related to international information security. and in other countries. We propose all sane forces, both in the United States itself and in other countries, to be guided by this document," Zakharova noted.