Trump's policy amid his "turn to Moscow" is pushing allies to consider their own nuclear shield - FT
Kyiv • UNN
Trump's rapprochement with Moscow and criticism of NATO are forcing Germany, Poland, Korea, and Japan to consider their own nuclear shield.
During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were able to agree on at least one thing: the proliferation of nuclear weapons was bad for everyone. But under the presidency of Donald Trump in the United States, his rapprochement with Moscow and his criticism of NATO are forcing long-time allies such as Germany, Poland, South Korea and Japan to think about the possibility of creating their own nuclear shields, the Financial Times reports, writes UNN.
Now, under Donald Trump, that confidence has never seemed weaker. The US president's turn towards Moscow and sharp disregard for NATO have prompted old allies - from Berlin and Warsaw to Seoul and Tokyo - to face what seemed unthinkable: how to prepare for a potential withdrawal of the US nuclear shield
Risks to international stability
Ankit Panda, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment and author of The New Nuclear Age, notes that undermining the global consensus on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is quite real. "The Trump phenomenon has become a powerful accelerator for voices in US allied states that now see nuclear weapons in their hands as a fundamental solution to the problem created by America's unreliability," he says.
Under the NPT, only five states - the US, Russia, China, France and the UK - have the right to possess nuclear weapons. At the same time, India, Israel and Pakistan, which have not signed the treaty, have also developed nuclear weapons, and North Korea became the first country to officially withdraw from the NPT, the publication writes.
Europe and the possibility of nuclear autonomy
Friedrich Merz, a candidate for the post of Chancellor of Germany, recently stated that Europe should consider the option of nuclear deterrence with the participation of Great Britain and France. This proposal caused a resonance in German society, as the country has always positioned itself as a supporter of peace.
In Poland, the topic is becoming even more relevant. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has for the first time openly spoken about the possibility of obtaining nuclear weapons or at least concluding a nuclear partnership agreement with France. At the same time, President Andrzej Duda expressed the opinion regarding the deployment of American warheads in Poland.
"There are suddenly lots of words and different opinions about what to do but they all show Poland believes in stronger nuclear deterrence against Russia," said Marcin Idzik, a board director of PGZ, Poland’s state-controlled defence manufacturer.
Duda calls on US to move nuclear warheads to Polish territory - FT13.03.25, 09:00 • 20305 views
Asia: growing nuclear ambitions
In South Korea, the rapid expansion of North Korea's nuclear programme and its cooperation with Moscow are fueling concern. More and more politicians are advocating for preparations for the possible creation of their own nuclear potential.
Japan, which has significant stocks of weapons-grade plutonium among non-nuclear states, is technically capable of creating nuclear weapons within a few months. However, the political and moral barrier to this remains extremely high, given its historical experience of nuclear bombings.
A new round of global instability
The developments caused by Trump's policy may become a catalyst for the revision of nuclear strategies in various parts of the world. If the global nuclear non-proliferation system with the NPT collapses, the world may face the reality predicted by US President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s - the emergence of 15-25 nuclear states and "with a greater risk of cataclysms of nuclear war", the publication notes.
