The United States placed nuclear weapons on the territory of European countries to dissuade these countries from developing their own nuclear weapons and to reduce the risks of their proliferation, former US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Rose Gottemoeller said.
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“The United States, as part of its Extended Deterrence commitment to NATO allies in Europe, did deploy weapons as part of the Extended Deterrence Mission. This mission stems from the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) negotiations in the 1960s, when the USSR was very concerned about about NATO countries, especially Germany, which were developing and deploying their nuclear weapons program,” she said.
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Gottemoeller added that from the point of view of the United States and its NATO allies, the NPT is a nonproliferation treaty in Europe because it has prevented many NATO allies from acquiring and deploying nuclear weapons.
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In April, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) said NATO countries would violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by placing nuclear weapons in Poland. Previously, the organization called on the United States to withdraw its nuclear weapons from Europe, since the practice of nuclear exchange is dangerous and increases the risk of escalation. According to them, the United States has about 150 nuclear bombs stationed at American air bases in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Turkey, without any official statements.
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The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is an international public organization established in 2007. Its goals are to promote the approval and implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The organization received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.
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The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT, 1968, in force since 1970) stated that only five countries possess nuclear weapons (USSR, USA, Great Britain, France and China), and prohibited the emergence of new nuclear powers. The Nuclear Five pledged not to transfer nuclear weapons to other countries or assist in their creation, and the remaining parties to the treaty pledged not to accept or create an atomic bomb.
