NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg highlighted the alliance's efforts to enhance its capabilities in line with current security threats, referencing recent Russian statements and nuclear drills being conducted by Moscow. In remarks to reporters before a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, which is expected to include a meeting of the nuclear planning group, Stoltenberg described nuclear weapons as "the ultimate security guarantee" and a means to maintain peace.
While it is known that the United States has deployed nuclear bombs at several sites in Europe, NATO rarely discusses these weapons publicly. Stoltenberg pointed to Russia's increasing activity in the nuclear domain, stating, "What we have seen over the past years and months is dangerous nuclear rhetoric from Russia... and we also see more nuclear drills and exercises from Moscow."
On Tuesday, Russia announced that its forces had begun the second phase of training for the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in cooperation with Belarusian forces in response to what Moscow describes as threats from Western powers.
