Talk of European nuclear deterrent without US involvement ‘not helpful’, says Nato boss

Talk of a potential European nuclear deterrent that would not involve the United States is “not helpful”, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said on Saturday.

Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference, Mr Stoltenberg said any questioning of Nato’s current nuclear deterrent “would only undermine Nato in a time when we really need credible deterrence”.

Some German politicians have in recent weeks raised the prospect of Europe developing its own nuclear deterrent in order to be less reliant on the United States for the continent’s defence.

Also on Saturday, the European Commission will present a defence industrial strategy proposal in three weeks, commission president Ursula von der Leyen said, and will also open a defence innovation office in Ukraine.

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“Europe has to step up its industrial base ... I’m a convinced transatlanticist and at the same time we have to build a strong Europe and that goes hand in hand,” Ms von der Leyen told a panel at the conference.

She said the proposal aimed to increase defence spending, “spend better” with joint procurement and agreements to provide predictability to industry and better interoperability between Europe’s armed forces, and focus spending in Europe to keep “good jobs” for taxpayers footing the bill.

She added that Ukraine must be integrated into Europe’s defence programmes as Russia was “outmassing Ukraine” with soldiers and by “throwing quick and dirty weapons produced in North Korea and Iran”.

On the financial aid side, Ms von der Leyen said it was in the US interest to pass a bill – currently stalled in Congress – to provide more aid to Ukraine as the measure was symbolic of democracies standing up to autocrats.

“It is not only about Russia’s war in Ukraine and Putin’s attempts to destabilise democracies but all the other autocratic adversaries that we are watching very closely ..., whether the democracies stand united, are determined, show resolve.”

She also said that if re-elected as head of the European Union executive, she would create the new post of defence commissioner.

In February, the EU agreed to provide a fresh aid package to Ukraine of €50 billion over the next four years on top of the €88 billion already spent since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“It is a question of will democracies globally prevail?” Ms von der Leyen said.

Turning to the Middle East, Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said on Saturday in Munich that to establish a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, there needs to be a guarantee that something like the October 7th attacks by Hamas can never happen again.

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he is willing to take US presidential front-runner Donald Trump to the Ukrainian frontline, amid concerns about wavering support among Republicans for the war effort.

Mr Zelenskiy, speaking at the gathering in Munich on Saturday, warned that a lack of long-range weapons is limiting the country’s fightback against Vladimir Putin’s forces.

“Keeping Ukraine in the artificial deficits of weapons, particularly in deficit of artillery and long range capabilities allows Putin to adapt to the current intensity of the war,” he told those attending.

Mr Zelenskiy used the conference to urge the West to continue to back the Ukrainian armed forces, as the two-year anniversary of the invasion approaches and Kyiv’s troops withdrew from the eastern town of Avdiivka.

But Republicans aligned to former president Donald Trump have been vocal in expressing scepticism about funding for the fight in eastern Europe.

British foreign secretary David Cameron said in Munich on Saturday that there will be “consequences” for the death of Alexei Navalny.

Additionally, G7 foreign ministers observed a minute’s silence at the start of the meeting in Munich to pay their respects to Russian opposition leader Navalny who died in prison on Friday. – Reuters/PA

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