Stoltenberg: NATO is discussing deploying nuclear weapons in readiness due to Russian threat

NATO speaks of placing a larger number of nuclear weapons, removing weapons from storage and putting them on alert due to the growing threat from Russia and China, the coalition's leader said today.

Jens Stoltenberg told the British newspaper Telegraph that NATO members are discussing using transparency for their nuclear arsenal as an obstacle.

I'm not going to talk about operational details about how many nuclear heads should be put into action and what will be preserved, but we need to consult on these issues. That's exactly what we're doing,” he told the newspaper.

“Transparency helps to convey a direct message that we are, of course, a nuclear alliance,” said Secretary General NATO.

“The goal of NATO, of course, is a world without nuclear weapons, but as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will remain a nuclear alliance, because a world in which Russia, China and North Korea have nuclear weapons, and NATO is not, it is a more dangerous world”, he added.

Stoltenberg said last week that nuclear weapons are “The final security storm” NATO and a means to preserve peace.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that Moscow could use nuclear weapons to defend itself under extreme circumstances. Moscow accuses the United States and its European allies of pushing the world on the brink of nuclear conflict by supplying Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of weapons used in attacks on Russian territory.

NATO, which has taken on a larger role in co-ordinating military aid to Kiev, rarely speaks publicly of nuclear weapons, although the US is known to have nuclear bombs deployed in several countries in Europe.

Russians simulated the launch of a nuclear tactical weapon

We must remember that Russian military exercise of the deployment of nuclear tactical weapons and their match-up, which was recently ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, was conducted along the border with Ukraine and included the transfer of false nuclear heads to storage stations and airports. where they were loaded into the bombers, it announced a special Russian Army nuclear unit.

Training was held in southern Russia, not far from the Ukrainian border. Soldiers from Leningrad Military Circle in northwest Russia participated in it and mobile missiles, Air Force and Navy were used, the Russian Defence Ministry announced.

Russia's 12th Military Administration (12 GU MO), which preserves, maintains, transports and distributes Russia's large nuclear weapons arsenal, said the exercises would be analysed to make improvements. The Nuclear Administration “secured the sending of nuclear weapons training to the depots on the ground of missile brigade positions and to the operational airport of Air Force”, she said.

Further improvement of non-strategic nuclear forces training will be determined to ensure the completion of tasks in various scenarios of developing the military-political situation”, the statement said.

A video published by the defence ministry shows Russian soldiers focusing on a mock target and then counting backwards to launch. The video also shows the startup button being pressed.

Russia says the United States and its European allies are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear conflict, giving Ukraine billions of dollars worth of weapons, some of which are being used to attack targets on Russian soil.

All major nuclear powers -- Russia, the United States, China, France, and Britain -- hold regular nuclear exercises, but this was different. According to Reuters, they are rarely effectively linked to public with a major current crisis like Russia did with this case for Ukraine.

By doing so, Russia is trying to send a signal to the United States and its major European allies that allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with increasingly advanced Western weapons is an escalation that could have consequences.

The United States says it has seen no change in Russia's strategic position, but senior American intelligence officials say it should take Moscow's nuclear weapons remarks seriously.

Russia and the United States are by far the world's largest nuclear powers, possessing about 88 percent of the world's nuclear weapons.

The United States has about 100 non-strategic nuclear weapons B61, deployed in five European countries -- Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands -- according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. The U.S. has 100 more weapons within its borders.

Russia has about 1558 non-strategic nuclear heads, but gun control experts say it is very difficult to say exactly how much they are due to data secrecy.

Putin said last week that many of Russia's nuclear tactical weapons have 70-75 kiloton explosive powers about five times the US nuclear bomb dropped in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.