The invasion of Ukraine and the West’s compact response against Russia brought fears of nuclear war back to Europe. Vladimir Putin warned that any “external interference” would be seen as an “unacceptable strategic threat” to Moscow and that the Federation has weapons “that no one else has” and is ready to use them. Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is personally going to Kyiv to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is supplying massive amounts of arms, leads the group of moderates and said an escalation must be avoided “at all costs”.
A nuclear war could have truly devastating consequences for the whole world, but especially for the Old Continent where most of the clashes would take place. As The Conversation recalls, both Russia and the United States have thousands of nuclear weapons, most of which are five or more times more powerful than the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. This includes about 1,600 weapons from each faction that could hit targets around the world. Those numbers are close to the limits allowed by the 2011 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the only nuclear arms control treaty currently active between Russia and the United States.
Both nations’ nuclear arsenals also include hundreds of short-range nuclear weapons not covered by any treaty, and Moscow has nearly 2,000, according to NGO estimates, about 10 times more than the United States. Their possible destinations are mainly in Europe, where there is no shortage of such newspapers. According to The Conversation, nearly half of the 200 or so US short-range weapons are stationed in five NATO countries in Europe: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, although Washington has never confirmed or denied their positions. In our country they would be in Aviano and Ghedi bases, although not even our government has ever officially confirmed this.
There are only two countries in Europe that have their own nuclear warheads and they are France and the UK. The two countries each have several hundred nuclear weapons, with Paris having both submarine-launched and aircraft-launched missiles, while London only has submarine-launched missiles. Although fewer in number than those owned by Russia and the US, these bombs can still cause tremendous damage. The 40 American-built Lockheed Martin Trident II-D5 warheads fitted to each of Britain’s four nuclear submarines alone would be enough to level Moscow and Russia’s largest cities.