NATO Holds Consultations on Putting Nuclear Weapons on Alert: Chief
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – NATO member states have started consultations on the need to put nuclear weapons on alert, the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told The Daily Telegraph.
"I won’t go into operational details about how many nuclear warheads should be operational and which should be stored, but we need to consult on these issues. That’s exactly what we’re doing," he said.
The NATO chief added that transparency on the issue "helps to communicate the direct message" that NATO is a "nuclear alliance," TASS reported.
"NATO’s aim is, of course, a world without nuclear weapons, but as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will remain a nuclear alliance, because a world where Russia, China and North Korea have nuclear weapons, and NATO does not, is a more dangerous world," Stoltenberg stated.
He said that he was particularly concerned about China, which is investing heavily in advanced weapons and will increase the number of its nuclear warheads to 1,000 by 2030. "And that means that in a not-very-distant future NATO may face something that it has never faced before, and that is two nuclear-powered potential adversaries - China and Russia. Of course, this has consequences," the NATO chief opined.
Stoltenberg added that the US and its European allies are currently modernizing their nuclear arsenals. "The US is modernizing their gravity bombs for the nuclear warheads they have in Europe and European allies are modernizing the planes which are going to be dedicated to NATO’s nuclear mission," he said.
According to the newspaper, the UK has deployed about 40 of its 225 nuclear warheads, while the US has 1,700 warheads (and another 3,700 in reserve). At the same time, the newspaper emphasized that France "does not make its atomic arsenal avaliable to the alliance because of a long-held decision to maintain independence over its own deterrence."
Commenting on the situation in Ukraine, Stoltenberg urged Western countries to continue supporting Kiev. "I strongly believe that if (Russian President Vladimir) Putin prevails in Ukraine, we will become more vulnerable, and then we will need to invest even more in our defense," he pointed out.