Important Takeaways:

• Stoltenberg said nuclear transparency should be the cornerstone of NATO’s nuclear strategy to prepare the alliance for what he described as a more dangerous world.
• A decade ago, when the 65-year-old assumed his role at the top of the bloc, nuclear exercises were conducted in complete secrecy.
• Now he openly praises a number of its 32 allies for contributing to the deterrent, including most recently The Netherlands for investing in dual-capable fighter jets that can host US nuclear weapons.
• “Transparency helps to communicate the direct message that we, of course, are a nuclear alliance,” Mr. Stoltenberg said. “NATO’s aim is, of course, a world without nuclear weapons, but as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will remain a nuclear alliance, because a world where Russia, China and North Korea have nuclear weapons, and NATO does not, is a more dangerous world.”
• He warned that China in particular was investing heavily in modern weaponry including its nuclear arsenal, which he said would grow to 1,000 warheads by as early as 2030.
• Stoltenberg insisted that the US and its European allies were now modernizing their nuclear deterrent in the face of increased threat from Russia.
• The number of operational nuclear weapons is top secret but estimates suggest the UK has about 40 of 225 deployed at any one time. The US has about 1,700 of 3,700.
• France, NATO’s third nuclear power, does not make its atomic arsenal available to the alliance because of a long-held decision to maintain independence over its own deterrence.

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