On Monday, NATO launched its regular nuclear deterrence drills in the Western region of Europe after tensions soared with Moscow over President Vladimir Putin‘s veiled threats in the face of setbacks in Ukraine. The 30-nation alliance NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) has stressed that the “routine, recurring training activity” — which runs until October 30 – has nothing to do with the current Russia-Ukraine crisis and was planned before the invasion.

As per the NATO announcement, air forces from the alliance’s member countries would fly dozens of aircraft to exercise their nuclear deterrence capabilities. Addressing the drill, NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu said that the Steadfast Noon “exercise helps ensure that the Alliance’s nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure, and effective,” which maintains the historical precedent that the event has set in each of the previous years that it has been conducted.

It will include US B-52 long-range bombers and more than 60 aircraft and will take part in training flights over Belgium, the United Kingdom, and the North Sea.

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General NATO, has rejected any calls to scrap the drill after Putin ratcheted up his nuclear rhetoric as his troops lose ground in Ukraine. Last week Stoltenberg said that it would send a very wrong signal if NATO suddenly cancelled a long-time planned exercise routine because of the war in Ukraine.