U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe are a bigger threat to Russia than Russian weapons are a threat to the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

"U.S. tactical nuclear weapons have always been there [on the planes] after WWII, after America became a nuclear power. They are simply modernizing them now," the president said in an interview in a documentary, "World Order," of the Rossiya-1 (VGTRK) television channel.

"Indeed, this is a dangerous thing now. Why? Because our tactical nuclear weapons are not strategic for the United States, they cannot reach their territory, while U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe can reach our territory. In this sense, they are strategic for us and they are posing a bigger threat to us than our strategic nuclear weapons," the president said.