NATO countries hold talks to deploy more nuclear weapons

NATO countries are considering putting their nuclear weapons on alert as part of a nuclear deterrent due to the threat from Russia and China, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. interview with the Telegraph.

Stoltenberg said: “I won't go into operational detail on how many nuclear warheads should be operational and which should be stockpiled, but we need to consult on these issues. This is exactly what we do.

According to him, the alliance should send a “direct message” to its adversaries with its nuclear arsenal.

He warns that China is investing heavily in modern weapons, including a nuclear arsenal which he predicts will reach a thousand nuclear warheads by 2030.

The annual study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) indicates that Russia and the United States continue to possess nearly 90 percent of all nuclear weapons in the world. The size of countries' arsenals has remained relatively stable, but in 2023, Russia deployed 36 more nuclear warheads in its operational forces than in the previous year, according to experts.

Beijing is currently modernizing and significantly expanding its nuclear arsenal. China has increased its nuclear forces from 410 nuclear warheads in 2023 to 500 in 2024.

SIPRI experts suggest that China has for the first time deployed a small number of nuclear warheads (around 24) on its missiles, thereby putting them on alert, indicating that in the next 10 years the country will deploy as many missiles intercontinental ballistic weapons than Russia or the United States.

According to SIPRI experts, nuclear weapons have not played such an important role since the Cold War.

Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Russia had launched the second phase of tactical nuclear weapons exercises, this time with Belarus.

The exercises will focus on joint training of units of the Russian and Belarusian armed forces in the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons.

Non-strategic nuclear weapons, also called tactical nuclear weapons, are designed for use on the battlefield.

Although these warheads have not yet been used in combat, they can be delivered via missiles, aircraft or artillery. Although they may not be as devastating as strategic nuclear weapons, which can destroy entire cities, they can still be very destructive, far more so than the two nuclear weapons used against Japanese cities at the end of World War II. worldwide.