MUNICH: European leaders, worried about threats from a nuclear-armed <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nato-chief-in-kyiv-on-surprise-visit-hours-after-russian-attack" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Russia</a> and doubts about the future of US security commitments, are increasingly debating whether to bolster nuclear arsenals on the continent. While the United States and Russia have thousands of nuclear warheads each, in Europe only France and Britain have atomic weapons, with the combined total in the hundreds. US President Donald Trump&#39;s comments about NATO and his transactional approach to foreign relations have European allies questioning whether they can risk relying on US protection. &quot;Europeans can no longer outsource their thinking about nuclear deterrence to the United States,&quot; an expert group warned in a report published for the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/field-marshal-asim-munir-meets-us-state-secretary-on-munich-security-conference-sidelines" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Munich Security Conference</a>. It called on Europe to &quot;urgently confront a new nuclear reality&quot; in the face of &quot;Russia&#39;s nuclear-backed revisionism&quot;. Speaking at the MSC, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was already holding &quot;confidential talks with the French president about European nuclear deterrence&quot;. Britain&#39;s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK&#39;s nuclear deterrent already protected fellow NATO members but stressed he was &quot;enhancing our nuclear cooperation with France&quot;. Starmer said &quot;any adversary must know that in a crisis they could be confronted by our combined strength&quot; alongside France. US &#39;ultimate guarantor&#39; NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte insisted that &quot;nobody&quot; was considering fully replacing the American nuclear umbrella, which has <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/keep-dreaming-nato-chief-says-europe-cant-defend-itself-without-us" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">shielded Europ</a>e&#39;s NATO countries for decades. &quot;I think every discussion in Europe making sure that collectively the nuclear deterrence is even stronger, fine,&quot; Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, told journalists. &quot;But nobody is arguing in Europe to do this as a sort of replacement of the nuclear umbrella of the United States. &quot;Everybody realizes that is the ultimate guarantor &ndash; and all these other discussions are in addition.&quot; US Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby said that Trump &quot;has made clear the US extended nuclear deterrent continues to apply here&quot; in Europe. He said there is US &quot;receptivity to a greater European contribution to ... the NATO deterrent&quot; &ndash; but that conversations need to be &quot;very sober&quot; and &quot;deliberate&quot; because of concerns about nuclear proliferation and instability. No good options Discussion of nuclear armament has long been viewed as taboo in many other European countries &ndash; but Russian aggression and worries about US commitment have forced the issue into mainstream European politics. Many European officials are convinced that Moscow&#39;s territorial ambitions will not be confined to Ukraine, and that other European countries &ndash; including even NATO members &ndash; could face some sort of attack. The MSC report laid out five nuclear options for Europe, while cautioning that none were good. There was &quot;no low-cost or risk-free way out of Europe&#39;s nuclear predicament&quot;, they warned. &quot;The era in which Europe could afford strategic complacency has ended,&quot; wrote the authors, calling on European policymakers &quot;to confront the role of nuclear weapons in the defense of the continent directly and without delay &ndash; and to invest the resources needed to do so competently&quot;. It listed five options: Continue to rely on American deterrence; strengthen the role of <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uk-says-conducted-joint-strike-with-france-on-is-site-near-palmyra" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">British and French</a> nuclear weapons in a European deterrent; jointly develop European nuclear weapons as a deterrent; increase the number of European countries with their own nuclear arsenals; or expand European conventional military power to present a more intimidating non-nuclear deterrent. Sticking with the status quo, and relying on America&#39;s unmatched military might, remained &quot;the most credible and feasible option&quot; in the short term, they argued. &#39;We need action&#39; Very few currently believe Europeans can assume full responsibility for deterrence in the short term. &quot;If there&#39;s going to be some kind of bigger European investments in France or the UK&#39;s nuclear deterrence, that&#39;s only a good thing,&quot; Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen recently told AFP. But he quickly added: &quot;If you&#39;re talking about to compensate <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/meta-partners-with-us-nuclear-companies-to-power-ai-data-centers" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">US nuclear</a> deterrence, that&#39;s not realistic at this point.&quot; Experts nevertheless welcomed the increasingly serious political debate on an issue that has long worried military planners. &quot;That&#39;s very positive, but now we need action,&quot; Heloise Fayet of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), a contributor to the MSC report, told AFP. The report noted that both France and Britain would face a range of challenges in growing their arsenals and extending nuclear protection across Europe &ndash; from hefty costs to tricky questions about who holds final authority to launch the warheads. French President Emmanuel Macron, who has previously raised the possibility of extending France&#39;s nuclear umbrella across Europe, is scheduled to deliver a major speech on French nuclear doctrine at the end of February. Macron said in Munich he was considering a doctrine that could include &quot;special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries&quot;.

Polish PM Donald Tusk, Bavarian State Premier Markus Soeder, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Munich Security Conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger give a press statement at the Munich Residence palace, prior to the traditional dinner on the oc

Europe

Americas

European leaders at the Munich Security Conference debated strengthening the continent’s nuclear deterrence amid concerns over Russia’s aggression and uncertainty about long-term US security commitments to NATO allies.

European debate over nuclear weapons gains pace at Munich Security Conference  

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ISLAMABAD: Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir met with the US Secretary of State&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/rubio-at-munich-security-meet-to-address-europeans-rattled-by-trumphttps://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-and-europe-belong-together-rubio" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Marco Rubio</a>&nbsp;on the sidelines of the 62nd&nbsp;Munich Security Conference, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported Sunday. The military&rsquo;s media wing stated that the two leaders discussed &ldquo;matters of mutual interest&rdquo;, including &ldquo;global and regional security dynamics and counterterrorism cooperation.&rdquo; The Field Marshal was on a trip to Germany from Feb. 12-14 to &ldquo;attend meetings on the sidelines of 62nd&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/rubio-at-munich-security-meet-to-address-europeans-rattled-by-trump" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Munich Security Conference</a>.&rdquo; The CDF also met with German authorities, including the Federal Minister of the Interior, Alexander Dobrindt, the Foreign Policy and Security Policy Advisor to Federal Chancellor of Germany G&uuml;nter Sautter, and the German Chief of Defense General Carsten Breuer. The Field Marshal&rsquo;s meeting with the German leaders &ldquo;focused on contemporary security issues, bilateral defense cooperation&rdquo; and the need for &ldquo;promoting global peace and security through bilateral and multilateral dialogue.&rdquo; The CDF held talks with Brazil&#39;s Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces Admiral Renato Rodrigues de Aguiar Freire, discussing bilateral military cooperation. He also met with the Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Rodolphe Haykal. During the meeting, the military leaders discussed global and regional security issues. They also discussed improving defense cooperation between the two countries.

Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir met with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the 62nd Munich Security Conference. (ISPR)

Foreign Affairs

The two leaders discussed matters of mutual interest, including global and regional security dynamics and counterterrorism cooperation.

Field Marshal Asim Munir meets US State Secretary on Munich Security Conference sidelines

MUNICH:&nbsp;US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was set to address European leaders on Saturday as they try to step up their autonomy in defense while salvaging transatlantic ties badly strained under President Donald Trump. Bruised by Trump&#39;s designs on Greenland and his often hostile comments about America&#39;s traditional bedrock allies, European leaders gathered at the Munich Security Conference have pledged to shoulder more of the burden of shared <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/in-show-of-support-canada-france-open-consulates-in-greenland" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">NATO defenses</a>. &lsquo;Right time&rsquo;&nbsp;Key leaders have pushed the message that this is essential for Europe to counter a hostile Russia, with NATO chief Mark Rutte saying that &quot;a strong Europe in a strong NATO means that the transatlantic bond will be stronger than ever&quot;. &quot;This is the right time for a strong Europe,&quot; said French President Emmanuel Macron, who stressed on Friday that the continent was &quot;clear in the support of Ukraine&quot; and &quot;building its own architecture of security&quot;. &quot;This Europe will be a good ally and partner for the United States of America.&quot; &lsquo;A sleeping giant&rsquo;British leader Keir Starmer was expected to tell the conference that Europe is &quot;a sleeping giant&quot; and must rely less on the United States for its defense. &quot;I&#39;m talking about a vision of European security and greater European autonomy that does not herald US withdrawal but answers the call for more burden sharing in full and remakes the ties that have served us so well,&quot; he will say, according to his office. Conciliatory choice&nbsp;Rubio is seen as a more conciliatory choice of US envoy, a year after Vice President JD Vance used the same stage to attack European policies on immigration and free speech, shocking European allies. The Trump administration&#39;s new National Security Strategy similarly launched an unprecedented attack against Europeans, charging that the continent is threatened with &quot;civilizational decline&quot;. Ties plunged further last month when Trump stepped up threats to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, forcing European nations to stand firm in protest. Ukraine war in focus&nbsp;German Chancellor Friedrich Merz acknowledged a &quot;rift&quot; had opened up between Europe and the United States, fueled by culture wars, but issued an appeal to Washington: &quot;Let&#39;s repair and revive transatlantic trust together.&quot; &quot;In the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone,&quot; said the conservative leader, who has ramped up defense spending in the top EU economy. The high-powered Munich meeting of government leaders, diplomats, defense and intelligence chiefs comes shortly before Russia&#39;s full-scale war on Ukraine is set to enter its fifth grueling year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been in Munich since Friday and meeting multiple allies, was expected to address the meeting on Saturday.&nbsp; No Russian officials have been invited. &lsquo;Get moving&rsquo;&nbsp;At the White House on Friday, Trump urged him to &quot;get moving&quot; to end the war.&nbsp; &quot;Russia wants to make a deal... He has to move,&quot; the US leader said. A German government source said Merz and Rubio met at the conference Friday and discussed &quot;Ukraine, the status of negotiations with Russia and further support for the country, particularly in terms of military aid&quot;. They also discussed Europe&#39;s role in NATO, and &ldquo;Rubio praised Germany&#39;s steps to strengthen the alliance&rdquo;, the source added. &lsquo;An aggressive Russia&rsquo;Macron said a new framework was needed to deal with &quot;an aggressive Russia&quot; once the fighting in Ukraine ends. Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky said he feared &quot;a new cold war&quot; between Europe and Russia in the coming decade, making reopening dialogue with Moscow essential. &quot;If it makes sense to talk, we are willing to talk,&quot; said Merz, but he also charged that &quot;Russia is not yet willing to talk seriously&quot;.

British leader Keir Starmer is expected to tell the conference that Europe is ‘a sleeping giant’ and must rely less on the United States for its defense.

Articles tagged with "Munich Security Conference"

European debate over nuclear weapons gains pace at Munich Security Conference

Field Marshal Asim Munir meets US State Secretary on Munich Security Conference sidelines

Rubio at Munich security meet to address Europeans rattled by Trump

European debate over nuclear weapons gains pace at Munich Security Conference