Overview
- Senior European officials say governments are exploring greater reliance on France and the U.K. or building technical capacity for rapid nuclear breakout without launching new national arsenals.
- Ideas under discussion include modernizing France’s forces, stationing French nuclear-capable bombers outside France, and reinforcing conventional defenses on NATO’s eastern flank.
- The debate has intensified following President Trump’s Davos remarks and his public comments about Greenland, according to officials cited by NBC News.
- French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to deliver a speech in the coming weeks outlining France’s nuclear posture, which could clarify Paris’s role.
- The White House says Trump has strengthened NATO, while experts question whether French and British stockpiles—about 290 and 225 warheads, versus roughly 3,700 for the U.S.—could credibly deter Russia without American backing.