Explained: Who has nuclear weapons in Europe and where are they?

The West has warned that nuclear threats by Vladimir Putin ought to be taken critically however that they won’t be intimated with NATO allies scheduled to hold out a joint nuclear deterrence train subsequent month. 

The Russian President has mentioned he’s prepared to make use of “all means obtainable” to guard Russian territories, together with the 4 components of Ukraine that have been illegally annexed earlier this month following sham referendums. 

In Europe, the risk is deemed “critical” by European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen.

“And on the similar time, as with every of his quotes, we’re not being blackmailed by what he says. We now have a really clear stance on how we need to proceed,” she burdened final week.

In response to the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute (SIPRI), Russia owns 5,977 nuclear warheads — the best tally on the planet though about 1,500 are retired warheads awaiting dismantlement.

Some 1,588 are deployed which suggests they’ve been positioned on missiles or are situated on bases with operational forces. 

In Europe, France and the UK are the one nations with nuclear weapons. Collectively they’re estimated to have 515 nuclear warheads, of which 400 are deployed, in line with SIPRI.

The US additionally has an estimated 100 nuclear warheads saved throughout Europe on air bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey, in line with the Centre for Arms Management and Non-Proliferation. These are among the many 5,428 nuclear warheads the US owns, of which 3,708 are operational, with the remaining meant to be dismantled.

NATO will subsequent week proceed with its annual week-long nuclear deterrence “Steadfast Midday” joint workout routines regardless of the Russian threats with Julianne Smith, the US ambassador to NATO stressing that “it’s not in response to what’s occurring in Ukraine.”

“Nuclear deterrence is a key function of NATO’s defence and deterrence posture. As such, the allies do conduct some of these workout routines regularly. And so this isn’t out of cycle.”

“That is one thing that NATO can be doing irrespective of what is occurring on the bottom inside Ukraine,” she instructed Euronews.