GOP Lawmakers Call for Nuclear Weapons in Eastern Europe

The United States should deploy nuclear weapons in Eastern Europe as a response to increasing Russian aggression in Ukraine, two senior Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee said late last week in a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry. Calling Russian suggestions that it intends to deploy nuclear weapons in Crimea “provocative and illegal” and a “dangerous escalation in Russia’s recent aggression,” Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Michael Turner (R-Ohio) urged the U.S. to update its defense policy and force posture in Europe. “We believe it is well past time for the U.S. to respond assertively to defend its interests,” Rogers and Turner wrote.

 

The lawmakers’ letter included six questions about the feasibility of placing nuclear weapons in Eastern Europe, asking about the necessary bilateral agreements for putting nuclear weapons there as well as what bases can host aircraft capable of carrying conventional and nuclear payloads and the cost of installing weapon storage and security system vaults at the bases. The letter also asked for details of the Administration’s planned response to prevent Russia from deploying nuclear weapons in Crimea. The letter does not reference any countries by name, but asks about countries admitted to NATO since 1999. That includes Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, which share a border with Ukraine. “We believe the U.S. must immediately take actions to respond to Russia’s threats to European security and to change President Putin’s calculus,” Rogers and Turner wrote.