Of the alliance’s 32 member countries, three — the United States, France and the United Kingdom — have nuclear weapons. Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey also host American tactical nuclear weapons on their soil. The U.S. said it had 1,419 deployed strategic nuclear warheads in its arsenal in March 2023. Russia opted not … Read more
Defense Secretary Grant Shapps will update the House of Commons Tuesday afternoon. Although he is not expected to directly name Beijing in his statement, Sky News, which first broke the story, reported that China is in the frame. Officials told POLITICO’s London Playbook newsletter their work had not cleared the high bar for public attribution. … Read more
Kyiv has already sent a formal request asking the British government to approve Zaluzhny, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday. Zaluzhny’s pending appointment comes after Zelenskyy removed him from his post as Ukraine’s top military commander last month. The Ukrainian president said at the time he was reshuffling his military leadership … Read more
The U.K. also announced a new plan Thursday to lead a coalition of 14 other European countries, including Turkey, on multinational defense procurement. The two initiatives, according to the U.K. Ministry of Defence, “aim to increase defense industrial capacity across the Euro-Atlantic area, replenish stockpiles at pace, and continue support to Ukraine.” The U.S. and … Read more
BERLIN — The German government U-turned on its policy of blocking the sale of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets to Saudi Arabia over the Gulf kingdom’s human rights record — but it still has qualms about its shift. A spokesperson for the German economy ministry said Monday that the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia “does … Read more
