NATO plans to put nuclear weapons on alert - Stoltenberg
Date: 2024-06-17 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WORLD
NATO is in talks to put more nuclear weapons on alert in the face of growing threats from Russia and China. As the head of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, said in an interview with The Telegraph, the Alliance must demonstrate its nuclear arsenal to the whole world in order to send a direct signal to its enemies.
He said that direct consultations are underway between NATO members regarding the removal of missiles from storage and bringing them to combat readiness.
"I won't go into operational detail about how many nuclear warheads should be operational and how many should be stored, but we need to consult on these issues. That's what we're doing," he said.
Stoltenberg, in an interview with The Telegraph, said that nuclear transparency should become the cornerstone of NATO's nuclear strategy
“Of course, NATO’s goal is 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,” he stressed. Secretary General of the Alliance.
He also issued a stark warning about the threat from China, saying China in particular was investing heavily in advanced weapons, including its nuclear arsenal, which he said would grow to 1,000 warheads by 2030.
“This means that in the near future NATO may face something it has never faced before, namely two potential adversaries with nuclear forces - China and Russia. Of course, this is fraught with consequences,” Stoltenberg warned.
The US and UK have contributed their nuclear deterrent to NATO, while other European allies store weapons on their soil and invest in systems to launch them.
According to The Telegraph, the number of operational nuclear weapons is kept secret, but the UK is estimated to have around 40 of its 225 deployed at any given time. In the USA - about 1,700 out of 3,700.
