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WORLD NEWS Friday 14 OctOber 2022
NATO chief warns Russia not to cross ‘very important line’

By LORNE COOK cident.
Associated Press “Russia will also be con-
BRUSSELS (AP) — Russian ducting its annual exercise,
President Vladimir Putin I think, the week after or just
would be crossing a “very after the annual exercise,”
important line” if he were U.K. Defence Secretary
to order the use of nuclear Ben Wallace told reporters
weapons in Ukraine, NATO Wednesday. But “what we
Secretary-General Jens don’t want is to do things
Stoltenberg warned Thurs- out of routine.”
day, as both the military al- “This is a routine exercise
liance and Russia are due and it’s all about readi-
to hold nuclear exercises in ness,” Wallace said, just
the next few days. as “NATO’s meeting is all
NATO is holding its exer- about making sure we are
cise, dubbed “Steadfast ready for anything. I mean,
Noon,” next week. The that is the job of this alli-
long-planned maneuvers ance to make sure that the
are conducted around the 30 partners together are
same time every year and ready for what is thrown at
run for about one week. us. And we have to contin-
They involve fighter jets ca- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference after a meeting of ue to work at that.”
pable of carrying nuclear NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Fourteen NATO member
warheads, but do not in- Associated Press countries will be involved
volve any live bombs. use of a smaller nuclear tension as some NATO al- cross that threshold. “Any in “Steadfast Noon,” which
Russia usually holds its own weapon will be a very se- lies, led by the U.S., supply nuclear attack against was planned before Rus-
maneuvers around the rious thing, fundamentally Ukraine with advanced Ukraine will create an an- sia invaded Ukraine on
same time, and NATO is ex- changing the nature of weapons and munitions to swer, not a nuclear answer Feb. 24. The main part of
pecting Moscow’s exercise the war in Ukraine, and of defend itself against Rus- but such a powerful answer the maneuvers will be held
of its nuclear forces some- course that would have sian aerial attacks. from the military side that more than 1,000 kilometers
time this month. Stolten- consequences.” “Irresponsible and reck- the Russian Army will be (625 miles) from Russia.
berg said NATO will “closely Stoltenberg’s remarks less rhetoric is dangerous,” annihilated,” he said in a NATO as an organization
monitor” what Russia is came after a meeting of U.S. Defense Secretary speech in Bruges, Belgium. doesn’t possess any weap-
up to. Asked what NATO NATO’s secretive Nuclear Lloyd Austin said of Rus- NATO is keeping a wary ons. The nuclear weapons
would do if Russia launched Planning Group, which was sian threats to potentially eye on Russia’s movements nominally linked to the alli-
a nuclear attack, Stolten- held among defense minis- use nuclear weapons in in its war with Ukraine, but ance remain under the firm
berg said: “We will not go ters in Brussels, as concerns Ukraine. However the U.S. has so far seen no change control of three member
into exactly how we will re- deepen over Putin’s insis- has not seen the need to in its nuclear posture. Pu- countries the U.S., the U.K.
spond, but of course this will tence that he will use any make any changes to its tin’s nuclear exercises and France. But France in-
fundamentally change the means necessary to de- current military posture or though could make it more sists on maintaining its nu-
nature of the conflict. It will fend Russian territory. response, Austin said. difficult for NATO to under- clear independence and
mean that a very important The meeting, which usu- European Union foreign stand what Russia’s inten- doesn’t take part in Nucle-
line has been crossed.” ally happens once or twice policy chief Josep Borrell tions might be, potentially ar Planning Group meet-
He added that “even any a year, comes amid high also warned Putin not to increasing the risk of an ac- ings. q

Bomb threat leads to evacuation of

Norway gas plant

COPENHAGEN, Denmark The blasts and ruptures Police said there was “no
(AP) — A bomb threat happened in international evidence that the bomb
against a natural gas pro- waters off the Baltic coast- threat against the Ormen
cessing facility in central line of both Sweden and Lange facility was real.”
Norway forced the site’s Denmark but within the “The perpetrator is known
evacuation and briefly countries’ exclusive eco- to the police for similar cir-
halted operations, police nomic zone. The damaged cumstances and the case
said Thursday, adding lat- Nord Stream pipelines dis- is being investigated fur-
er that the threat wasn’t charged huge amounts of ther,” said police spokes-
credible. methane, a potent green- man Per Åge Ferstad.
The incident came amid house gas, into the air. Norwegian broadcast- Police and personnel from the Home Guard stand guard outside
heighten security on key Gas from Norway’s Ormen er NRK later said a man, the land plant of the Ormen Lange gas field after a person called
energy, internet and power Lange deepwater facility known for having made in a bomb threat against the plant, in Aukra, Norway, Thursday
infrastructures following last off the coast which sup- similar threats over several Oct. 13, 2022. Associated Press
month’s underwater ex- plies around 20% of UK’s years, had been detained.
plosions that ruptured two gas needs is piped along NRK added that ma,n who (233 miles) northwest of Shell later told Norwegian
natural gas pipelines in the the seabed to the onshore was not identified, previ- Oslo. It is Norway’s second- news agency NTB that
Baltic Sea that were built to Nyhamna facility, which ously had been convicted largest gas field and is op- workers had returned to
deliver Russian gas to Ger- was evacuated. The gas is in several similar cases. erated by the Norwegian the site and production
many. then exported to the U.K. Nyhamna is 375 kilometers branch of Shell. had resumed.q