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The first meeting of the joint Franco-Polish coordination group on nuclear cooperation took place in Paris. In response to threats from Russia, France, as the only nuclear power in the European Union, intends to share strategic responsibility for the continent’s security with its allies, UATV English reports.
The meeting of the joint Poland-France nuclear cooperation group was a continuation of French President Emmanuel Macron’s initiative to strengthen European deterrence amid the Russian threat, Poland’s Foreign Ministry announced. The sides agreed to continue working on a joint strategy, strengthening NATO’s eastern flank, and coordinating on nuclear security. Importantly, this does not involve creating a pan-European nuclear arsenal. In essence, Paris has offered allies a “nuclear umbrella” and advocated shared responsibility on security matters. France has more than 300 nuclear missiles, deployed on ships, submarines, and aircraft, and Paris intends to expand its arsenal.
“Today we are holding a structured dialogue with ten countries, which truly allows us to propose new solutions and puts our competitors in strategic dilemmas. The second aspect is that this alliance is an alliance of peace and balance. It is meant to ensure peace on the European continent,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.
Analysts explain that the state of Europe’s nuclear shield is undergoing a historic transformation and a shift toward autonomy. The main change is a gradual move away from absolute dependence on the United States for security matters in favor of building Europe’s own deterrence architecture. Since Russia continues to threaten its neighbors, including with nuclear weapons, building such a structure is a strategic issue for Europe. And although Beijing assesses that Russia will not resort to using nuclear weapons, the risk of further escalation should not be underestimated, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in an interview with CNBC.
“Two days ago I hosted China’s foreign minister for dinner in Finland, and we discussed the nuclear issue. The Chinese are stating very categorically: no, this will not happen. It is very important that we are able to contain this situation. However, there is a danger of escalation, and we must take it seriously,” noted Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
“There were various assessments, including evidence that Putin genuinely considered this in late summer–early autumn of 2022. But it seems to me that nuclear blackmail is convenient only as long as you don’t actually use that option, as is true of any other blackmail. The Kremlin does not want to get drawn into a third world nuclear war. They love life too much there and intend to live long, if not forever. So no one was seriously planning to use nuclear weapons. But the rhetoric itself about using nuclear weapons is, of course, irritating,” noted Orientalist Vyacheslav Likhachev.
After another round of threats from Moscow, China, for the first time, warned Russia in no uncertain terms that using nuclear weapons is out of the question, Ukraine’s president said during an online briefing with journalists. According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the topic of China was one of the central issues in his conversation with Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Ankara. The heads of state discussed Beijing’s influence on Russia’s war against Ukraine. Zelenskyy also said he discussed China’s role in ending the war with EU leaders.
“The situation here has changed somewhat. It’s very important to emphasize that not only Europeans, not only America, but also China — it seems for the first time — reacted very clearly and very firmly, even stating in no uncertain terms that there can be no thought of using nuclear weapons,” said Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Analysts believe China is indeed capable of forcing the Russian dictator to end the war. But for now, Beijing is interested in the fighting continuing, according to the head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, Kyrylo Budanov. In his view, only coordinated efforts by Ukraine and its partners, first and foremost the United States, can put an end to Russian aggression. China itself has consistently rejected any accusations of supporting the aggressor state. Recently, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called reports about the training of Russian military personnel in China baseless and purely slanderous.
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