📰 Response by the Russian Embassy in Belgium to a question from Politico (October 9, 2026)

❓Question: NATO today communicated about its annual nuclear exercise, starting next week. They have said they are communicating about it openly to signal to Russia that this is a regular exercise and they do not pose a threat to Moscow — and they would like to cool tensions. How would you respond to this messaging?

💬Answer: We take note of NATO officials’ statements that the exercises are regular and do not pose a threat to Russia.

However, these exercises – given that NATO considers our country as the main threat to security – do not contribute to reducing tensions on the continent and are part of the Alliance's nuclear policy, to which Moscow's negative attitude is well known.

In any case, we will closely monitor the course of the exercises.