The U.S. State Department says that the United States has no plans to forward-deploy nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula. 

Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel made the statement on Thursday during a press briefing when asked about Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's recent remarks. The foreign minister stated that Moscow may consider additional nuclear deterrence steps if the U.S. deploys ground-launched intermediate-range ballistic missiles(IRBM) to the Indo-Pacific.

Patel said that the U.S. does not assess returning nuclear weapons to the Indo-Pacific as necessary at this time.

The comment was made in response to the Russian foreign minister’s remarks, but it also comes amid calls from some in the U.S. for the nation to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to the peninsula. 

On Thursday, Republican Senator Roger Wicker, a ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, proposed redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear arms to the Korean Peninsula to reinforce deterrence against North Korea. 

He also called to begin discussions with South Korea, Japan and Australia to gauge their willingness to engage in a nuclear burden-sharing arrangement with the U.S., similar to those existing with NATO allies.