Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) signs documents as Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a signing ceremony in Sochi, Russia, on Oct. 17, 2018.

White House and NATO officials on Sunday responded to a statement issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would activate his strategic deterrence forces, which includes his country’s nuclear arsenal.

“If you combine this rhetoric with what they’re doing on the ground in Ukraine, waging war against an independent sovereign nation, conducting a fully-fledged invasion of Ukraine, this adds to the seriousness of the situation,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told CNN.

The secretary-general added: “That’s the reason why we both provide support to Ukraine, but also why we over the last weeks and months have significantly increased the presence of NATO in the eastern part” as “allies are now stepping up with more troops, more ships, more planes, and why we also have to realize that we are now faced with a new normal for our security.”

On Sunday morning, Putin said in a televised address with his top ministers that he would increase the readiness of his deterrence forces. The move, he said, was in response to European Union sanctions and economic penalties, including removing some Russian banks from the SWIFT banking information service.

Courtesy Epoch News