NATO is putting Russia and any other “nuclear-armed peer-competitors” on notice that the trans-Atlantic alliance can and will retaliate against any nuclear attack.
The latest edition of the security bloc’s guiding strategic concept evinces a more muscular posture regarding NATO’s nuclear forces than the 2010 document, which characterized Russia as a “partner” just four years before the Kremlin seized Crimea from Ukraine. And the latest document implies that as North Atlantic allies send a stronger signal about threats from Russia’s nuclear threats, they also won’t fail to keep an eye on China’s nuclear arsenal.
The balance of nuclear military power emerged as a burning issue in the last several months, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has invoked Moscow’s arsenal to deter at least some Western support or intervention for Ukraine. His nuclear saber-rattling has spurred some European officials to wonder if Putin thinks he could win a limited nuclear war; the allies, for their part, asserted such a conflict would be a losing proposition for their enemies.
"The independent strategic nuclear forces of the United Kingdom and France have a deterrent role of their own and contribute significantly to the overall security of the Alliance,” the 2022 document now reads. “These Allies’ separate centers of decision-making contribute to deterrence by complicating the calculations of potential adversaries.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Russia-Ukraine live updates: Kremenchuk mall strike a ‘terrorist attack,’ Zelensky says; NATO leaders to meetThe U.N. Security Council will discuss the deadly attack on a mall in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, during a meeting on Tuesday.\n\n
Read more »
EXPLAINER: NATO holds summit with gaze on Russia — and ChinaMADRID (AP) — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shocked NATO back to first principles. Seven decades after it was founded, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is meeting in Madrid this week with an urgent need to reassert its original mission: preventing Russian aggression against Western allies.
Read more »
NATO warns Moscow as Putin ally says Russia ‘considering’ attack on LithuaniaA restriction on railway shipments from mainland Russia across Lithuania has put a harsh spotlight on a dangerous boundary between NATO and Russia.
Read more »
EXPLAINER: NATO holds summit with gaze on Russia — and ChinaThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization is meeting in Madrid this week with an urgent need to reassert its original mission: preventing Russian aggression against Western democracies.
Read more »
NATO calls Russia its ‘most significant and direct threat’NATO declared Russia the “most significant and direct threat” to its members’ peace and security on Wednesday and vowed to strengthen support for Ukraine, even as that country’s leader chided the alliance for not doing more to help it defeat Moscow.
Read more »
Kremenchuk mall strike a ‘terrorist attack,’ Zelensky says; NATO leaders to meetThe U.N. Security Council will discuss the deadly attack on a mall in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, during a meeting on Tuesday.\n\n
Read more »