At a time when President Joe Biden warned Moscow of a "huge mistake" if it decided to use a nuclear weapon, US officials announced that Washington had received notification from Moscow about the start of exercises involving the launch of missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads

The United States last year described the exercises as routine, but the escalation of talk about the possibility of Russia resorting to the use of a nuclear weapon in the war in Ukraine has increased fears of the actual use of this weapon.

According to a US military official, these exercises, which the Russians call nuclear Thunder, involve the large-scale use of strategic nuclear power, including the launch of live missiles.

According to US media, Washington had been waiting for these exercises to take place for several weeks, but received notice of this only a short time ago.

These maneuvers coincide with the nuclear exercises decided by NATO a long time ago, and bear the name (fixed back).

These exercises have been held in Belgium since the seventeenth of October, and will continue until the thirtieth, with the participation of 14 countries.

Joe Biden warned Tuesday that Russia's use of a nuclear weapon would be a "huge, huge mistake," while Moscow says Ukraine is preparing a "dirty bomb," which Kiev and Western countries have denied.

The US president warned that "Russia will make a huge, huge mistake if it uses a tactical nuclear weapon".

For his part, the spokesman of the US Department of Defense, General Patrick Ryder, said that Washington is concerned about "the talk of Russian leaders about nuclear weapons and we are watching this closely".

He noted the importance of maintaining channels of communication with Moscow to avoid any "dangerous slippage ".

Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, said that Russia would face consequences whether it used the so-called dirty bomb or a conventional nuclear weapon.

Western countries today accused Russia of planning to use the threat of a bomb loaded with nuclear material as a pretext for escalation in Ukraine.

A senior US military official said on Monday that the United States still has no indication that Russia has decided to use nuclear, chemical or bacteriological weapons in Ukraine.

"We still have no indication that the Russians have decided to use nuclear weapons," the official said on condition of anonymity, adding: "there is no information that they have made a decision to use nuclear, bacteriological or chemical weapons on the battlefield."