US-South Korea Nuclear Deal Undermines Global Stability: Russia

On Friday, Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned that te recent nuclear agreement reached by the United States and South Korea will have a negative effect on regional security and undermine global stability,

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"We took note of reports on an agreement that was reached between the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) on joint planning with regard to the use of nuclear weapons," the Russian diplomat pointed out.

"This development is clearly destabilizing... and will have serious negative consequences for regional security and will impact global stability," she added.

According to her statement, by committing to policies of "extended nuclear deterrence," the United States and its allies are duplicating schemes that Washington has been practicing for decades following the Cold War, and still practices with its NATO allies.

It added that such practices will ultimately undermine international security, lead to a further escalation of tensions, spur security crises, and provoke an arms race.

"We call on the U.S. and its allies... to refrain from steps that lead to the weakening of the overall level of security for all states," Zakharova said.

The United States and South Korea jointly issued the Washington Declaration on April 26 as one of the outcomes of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to Washington.

This document says that the United States will upgrade the extended deterrence it provides to South Korea, including enhanced consultation over a nuclear crisis, increased military exercises and training activities, table-top simulation, the establishment of a new Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), and a further expansion of the U.S. regular visibility of strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula.