NATO’s "Steadfast Noon” nuclear exercise is only escalating tensions amid "a hot war” in Ukraine, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"Given the ‘hot war’ phase of the Ukrainian conflict, such drills will certainly lead to nothing but a further escalation of tensions,” TASS quoted Peskov as saying.

NATO stated earlier that the Steadfast Noon exercise would last two weeks, involving troops from eight air bases and various types of aircraft, including fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear warheads. However, nuclear weapons will not be installed on the planes. This year, the drills include flights mostly over Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as in the airspace over Denmark, the United Kingdom and the North Sea, NATO added.

The Steadfast Noon exercise is part of NATO’s joint nuclear missions program, which provides for the possible use of US tactical nuclear weapons installed on the aircraft of the bloc’s non-nuclear members.

NATO military planners expect that this will make it much harder for NATO’s adversaries to make timely decisions on a retaliatory strike and prioritize nuclear weapons carriers among targets. NATO’s joint nuclear mission program is offensive in nature and not intended for retaliatory purposes.

The US refused to withdraw its nuclear weapons from Europe after the Cold War ended. The program of joint nuclear missions involves five non-nuclear NATO allies, those being Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. Other NATO members, apart from the above-mentioned five countries and the three nuclear states (the US, the UK and France), perform support tasks when taking part in drills.