Languages

Støre calls on NATO to support tactical nukes disarmament

The Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre and four other European Foreign Ministers have signed a letter calling on NATO to include sub-strategic nuclear weapons in steps towards nuclear disarmament.

Location

Russia has an unknown number of tactical nuclear weapons in storage on the Kola Peninsula. Last month, BarentsObserver reported that Sweden’ Foreign Minister Carl Bildt urged Russia to withdraw its tactical nuclear weapons from the Kola Peninsula. - Moscow should make a commitment to the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from areas adjacent to European Union member states, Bildt said.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded to Bildt’s call by referring to Moscow’s position that tactical nuclear weapons must be removed to the territory of the state to which they belong, as reported by BarentsObserver.

It is well known that the U.S. has tactical nuclear weapons stored in several European NATO countries.

Read also: Nobel Peace Prize: -No tactical nuke talks

The letter from the five Foreign Ministers of Norway, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, styled to NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says further achievements in the area of disarmament and arms control are welcomed.

THe Foreign Ministers’ letter highlights the need to include sub-strategic (tactical) nuclear weapons into disarmament talks.

The Foreign Ministers writes that “We believe that also in NATO we should discuss what we can do to move closer to this overall political objective.”

Aljazeera reports today that a review of the U.S. nuclear arsenal supposed to be released on Monday has been delayed again.

A senior official within President Obama’s administration said the U.S. is moving forward with plans to reduce the nuclear weapons arsenal, reports New York Daily News.

Read alsoAlso for our Barents safety