NATO is considering making more nuclear weapons operational. Secretary General Stoltenberg told a British newspaper this. Russia, which recently held nuclear weapons exercises, sees this as a provocation.
In view of the increasing threats from China and Russia, NATO is holding talks about removing more nuclear weapons from storage and putting them on standby, according to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg told the British newspaper The Telegraph that the member states of the defense alliance were discussing using transparency regarding their own nuclear arsenals as a deterrent. “I will not go into details about how many nuclear warheads should be ready for use and which ones should be stored, but we need to consult on these issues. That is exactly what we are doing,” he told the newspaper.
NATO’s goal is “of course” a world without nuclear weapons. “But as long as there are nuclear weapons, we will remain a nuclear alliance. Because a world in which Russia, China and North Korea have nuclear weapons and NATO does not is a more dangerous world,” Stoltenberg stressed.
Russia speaks of “escalation of tensions”
Stoltenberg’s comments provoked strong reactions from the Kremlin. The Kremlin interpreted the NATO chief’s statements as a further “escalation of tensions,” as spokesman Dmitri Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency. These comments contradict the communiqué of the Ukraine conference, Peskov said. It states that any threat or use of nuclear weapons in connection with Ukraine is inadmissible.
“I would like to clarify that when President Putin speaks about the nuclear weapons issue, he always answers questions that are put to him. He never does this on his own initiative; he is very cautious,” the Kremlin spokesman continued.
Russia had just held tactical nuclear weapons exercises near the Ukrainian border in May.
More and more operational Nuclear warheads
The Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published its new annual report today, according to which the number of operational nuclear warheads worldwide has recently increased again. Although decommissioned warheads are being dismantled and the number of nuclear weapons worldwide has been falling for decades, at the same time more and more warheads are being kept operational.
According to the institute, a total of nine countries have nuclear weapons. The leaders are the USA and Russia. They have around 90 percent of all nuclear warheads. Great Britain ranks third, followed by France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel.
As early as February 2023, President Putin had suspended the New Start disarmament treaty – the last major nuclear disarmament treaty with the USA. This treaty actually limits the nuclear weapons arsenals of both countries and regulates inspections.