British minister slams Macron for refusing Russia’s nuclear response

The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported on the reaction of British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to the statements of the President of France, who did not express readiness to respond with a nuclear strike to the hypothetical use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Emmanuel Macron also called for the exclusion of public rhetoric on this topic, as a factor provoking the escalation of the conflict.

The French President, noting that his country’s military doctrine does not provide for a nuclear response to the use of tactical nuclear weapons by a third party, stressed that the nuclear deterrence mechanism works the better, the less people talk about it.

“It is necessary to avoid any escalation of the conflict. It is necessary that this war does not expand either geographically or vertically – that is, in terms of the use of weapons of mass destruction,” Macron said on the France 2 TV channel.

In turn, the British minister, in response to a request for comment, said that “this reveals the cards of President Macron.”

A NATO spokesman, also interviewed by the newspaper, echoed Wallace’s criticism, explaining that Macron’s statement undermines the “principles of deterrence” and the alliance “does not go into the details of such scenarios.”