Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Mentions Nuclear Weapons, Russian Defense Ministry Summons German Attache

Illustration of the Russian Ministry of Defense. (Wikimedia Commons/A.Savin)

JAKARTA - Russia's Defense Ministry on Tuesday summoned the German Defense Attaché and handed him a note on statements by German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Russia's nuclear deterrence.

"Today, October 25, the Defense Attache of the German Embassy in Russia was invited to the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Defense. At the meeting, attention will be paid to the statements of the German Minister of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Russia's nuclear deterrence and a note has been submitted," the ministry said, citing Sputnik News Oct. 25.

The German defense attache was told, "Such statements provoke an increase in tensions in Europe and do not contribute to the normalization of the situation."

The Russian Defense Ministry statement, following Kramp-Karrenbauer's Friday interview on German radio, in which he said that NATO needed to "make it clear to Russia", if the "doctrine of deterrence" meant using whatever means the block deems necessary to prevent Moscow from attacking a partner or NATO allies. The German Defense Minister also noted that nuclear weapons are a "means of deterrence."

Reiterating Moscow's concerns over NATO's push to gather troops near Russia's borders, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu previously warned his German counterpart needs to know very well how this issue ended for Germany and Europe in the past.

Earlier in October, Russia suspended operations of the NATO information office in Moscow, along with the work of Russia's own permanent mission to the block. The decision follows the alliance's move to revoke the accreditation of eight employees of the Russian mission to NATO.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted last week that Moscow believed the alliance should be the first to take steps to improve bilateral relations.

"Because we have never started the degradation of relations either with NATO or with the European Union or with any country in the West or any other region," said Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.