Rutte: NATO will pay more attention to its nuclear potential

NATO intends to place greater emphasis on the strength of its nuclear potential in the future, in order to convincingly deter potential adversaries, the alliance's Secretary General Mark Rutte said in an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

“It is important to talk more with our societies about nuclear deterrence to help them understand how it contributes to our shared security,” he said. In his opinion, in light of “dangerous and open nuclear rhetoric,” NATO citizens should understand that “there is no reason to panic” and that the alliance has sufficient capabilities in this area.

“NATO’s nuclear defense is the perfect guarantee of our security,” Rutte stressed. He added that it must remain “reliable, trustworthy and effective.” At the same time, the NATO chief noted that “a nuclear war can never be won and should never be fought.” Commenting on the alliance’s annual “Steadfast Noon” nuclear deterrence exercises held in October, Rutte said they sent a clear signal to all adversaries that NATO can and will defend its partners against all threats.

At a meeting of the Russian Security Council on November 5, President Vladimir Putin instructed the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry, the special services, and civilian agencies to collect and analyze additional information and “submit coordinated proposals on the possible start of preparations for nuclear weapons testing.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a TASS correspondent that the president did not instruct them to begin preparations for the tests; rather, he “instructed them to study the advisability of starting preparations for such tests.”

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said he had instructed the Pentagon to immediately resume nuclear weapons testing, citing the fact that other countries were already doing so. Trump did not specify what kind of tests he was referring to or whether this included detonating nuclear warheads.