![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/us-to-send-nuclear-weapons-to-nato-bases-amid-rising-tensions-with-russia/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/TELEMMGLPICT000314163907_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg&description=He accused Liz Truss of having publicly threatened Russia with a nuclear attack when she was prime minister. Mr Putin claimed the former prime minister had made a "folly" and was a "bit out of it," adding: "Someone should have corrected her. Washington could have said they have nothing to do with that." In a long speech, Mr Putin described the Ukrainian crisis as part of "tectonic changes in the world order that have been going on for several years now". He added: "We are facing a historic milestone. Ahead of us is possibly the most dangerous, unpredictable and at the same time crucial decade since the end of the Second World War." First defence review in four years As Mr Putin spoke, the US released its long awaited National Defence Strategy, the first in four years, and its Nuclear Posture Review. The 80-page defence strategy said China was "the most consequential strategic competitor for the coming decades," and that would determine how the US military is equipped and developed in the future. There was also a strong warning for Kim Jong-un that his regime would "end" if he used a nuclear weapon. It said: "There is no scenario in which the Kim regime could employ nuclear weapons and survive." The review said US nuclear weapons were a deterrence not just against nuclear, but also conventional, attack. "This includes nuclear employment of any scale, and it includes high-consequence attacks of a strategic nature that use non-nuclear means," the document said. It also confirmed the cancellation of a new submarine-launched cruise missile announced when Donald Trump was president. Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said the US already had enough nuclear capability. He added: "I don't think this [the cancellation] sends any message to Putin. He understands what our capability is." Mr Austin added: "We are certainly concerned about escalation, we have been so from the very beginning of this conflict. It would be the first time that a nuclear weapon has been used in o){kind=link}
Deployment of B61-12 tactical bombs to Europe comes after Moscow held military exercises showcasing its own ballistic capabilities
America is to bring forward the delivery of dozens of highly accurate guided tactical nuclear weapons to Europe amid escalating tensions with Moscow.
The new B61-12 thermonuclear bombs are “dial-a-yield” devices, meaning their payload can be changed. They are expected to be sent to Nato bases within weeks.
B61-12s have four yields that can be selected – 0.3, 1.5, 10 or 50 kilotons. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 had a yield of about 15 kilotons.
The 12ft-long weapons feature new tailkits that allow them to be dropped from planes as a “dumb” gravity bomb, or in “guided drop” mode, with an accuracy of within 30 metres.