MILAN — Amid uncertainty surrounding the US’s military posture in Europe, Norway’s foreign minister used today’s NATO meeting to warn that Russian nuclear weapons pose a direct threat to all American cities, emphasizing that a unified partnership within the alliance is vital to prevent this.
Espen Barth Eide spoke at the NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs convention taking place today in Sweden, less than a day after President Donald Trump rebuked plans to reportedly scrap a planned deployment to Poland.
“It is good that Europe is doing more, but there’s a need to remind our good friends on the other side of the Atlantic that NATO is also good for them,” the Nordic minister said during doorstep remarks.
He cited the example of the Kola Peninsula, a strategic site directly bordering Norway where Russia keeps most of its nuclear capabilities. These weapons, he noted, “have the capacity to destroy almost all American cities,” requiring a strong partnership with the alliance to prevent such a scenario.
The Kola Peninsula serves as the primary base for Moscow’s Northern Fleet, which comprises a variety of submarines, including nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines that serve as a nuclear deterrent.
Eide reaffirmed that he views Russia as not the only threat to the alliance, but as the defining one. Similarly to other officials’ remarks during the morning addresses, he echoed that the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine has somewhat improved for Kyiv, and that Moscow is “in a bad place.”
“We need to recognize that Ukraine has become a security provider… It is the world leader in drone and anti-drone warfare as well as other emerging technologies,” he said.
