Allegations Claiming Radiation Linked To Russian Weapons Tests 'Groundless' - Ryabkov

Allegations that Russian weapons tests are behind slightly elevated levels of background radiation in northern Europe are groundless and part of US information warfare, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th July, 2020) Allegations that Russian weapons tests are behind slightly elevated levels of background radiation in northern Europe are groundless and part of US information warfare, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Sputnik.

Some western media speculation has pointed to Russia's Poseidon and Burevestnik, experimental nuclear-power nuclear-armed submarine and air missile systems, as the cause for the nuclear isotopes.

"Of course, I categorically reject such connections as absolutely groundless. This is an element of propaganda, an element of common American efforts aimed at sowing uncertainty, especially among Europeans about what is happening," Ryabkov said to Sputnik.

He stressed that Moscow has proposed and will continue to offer the US "to deal with the topic of our promising systems in the broader context of the many factors affecting strategic stability, with emphasis on those promising American systems that are extremely destabilizing in the whole situation.

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"The Americans know our list [of demands], they know about our concerns. Unlike the US, we prefer to do this professionally and behind closed doors, while our colleagues take a different path, similar to what happened in recent days with the Afghan story. This is part of the general course, and all this has nothing to do with arms control," Ryabkov postulated.

The International Atomic Energy Agency stated that the slight increase in the concentration of radioactive isotopes in the atmosphere over Northern Europe does not pose a risk to human health and the environment. More than 40 countries, including Russia, told the IAEA that there were no incidents recorded on their territory that could lead to an increased concentration of radiation in the air.