OREANDA-NEWS  NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte responded sarcastically to reporters, speaking about the prospect of Russia's nuclear tests. His words are reported by the Romanian Digi 24 portal.

At a press conference with Romanian President Nicusor Dan, the head of the North Atlantic Alliance was asked to comment on the meeting of the Russian Security Council, on the agenda of which was the issue of the expediency of conducting nuclear tests. The Secretary General was also asked about NATO's response to the Russian nuclear tests.

"I stopped responding to meetings organized by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin a long time ago. Putin. He gets paid as the president of Russia, that's why he organizes them," Rutte quipped.

Earlier, Putin instructed the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Defense, the special services, as well as civilian agencies to prepare proposals for nuclear tests.