NATO Chief Indicates Potential Increase in Nuclear Weapon Deployment
NATO, led by Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, is actively discussing the possibility of deploying additional nuclear weapons in response to the increased threat posed by nuclear-armed Russia and a rising nuclear power, China. The alliance is considering taking some nuclear weapons out of storage and making them operational to establish a stronger deterrent. Stoltenberg emphasized the importance of transparency about NATO’s nuclear capabilities, arguing that it strengthens deterrence and communicates a clear message of the alliance’s nuclear status. He reiterated NATO’s ultimate goal of a nuclear-free world, but underscored the necessity of maintaining nuclear capabilities as long as other powers like Russia, China, and North Korea possess them. Details about the exact operational status of nuclear warheads remain confidential as consultations within the alliance continue.
NATO members are debating deploying more nuclear weapons to counter rising hostile powers, especially China, according to NATO’s secretary-general.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance is facing an unprecedented threat with a nuclear armed Russia and another rising nuclear power in China. To counter the threat and establish deterrence, the alliance is considering moving some nuclear weapons out of storage and making them operational.
“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,” Stoltenberg told The Telegraph in an interview published over the weekend.
“In a not-very-distant future,” he said, “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 secretary-general said that, unlike in years past, NATO should embrace transparency about its nuclear capabilities. Transparency is the key to deterrence, he said.
“Transparency helps to communicate the direct message that we, of course, are a nuclear alliance,” Stoltenberg said. “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.”
China in particular worries the NATO chief. Beijing’s stockpile of nuclear warheads could grow to 1,000 by the end of the decade. The Chinese military is investing heavily in other forms of advanced weapons, as well, Stoltenberg said.
NATO has 32 member countries, but only three of those are nuclear powers: France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Americans tactical nuclear weapons are positioned in several other countries: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey, according to Politico.
Among NATO members, the U.S. has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons at 5,428. Last year, the U.S. State Department said that 1419 warheads were deployed. Russia is believed to have the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world at 5,977. In 2022, Russia said that it had 1,549 warheads deployed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov bashed Stoltenberg’s comments, calling them “nothing else but an escalation.” The Kremlin spokesman went on to add that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not talk about nuclear weapons “at his own initiative as he takes the issue seriously,” according to Politico.
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