Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
1/30/2015
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’ Jan. 22 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 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.
Increased Tensions
As tensions have increased between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine and other arms control issues, like the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, Moscow has suggested that it could deploy nuclear weapons in Crimea, the area of Ukraine it annexed last year. In comments to Russian news agencies in December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that Crimea was not part of any ‘nuclear-free’ zone. “Under international law the Russian state has the grounds for doing what it likes with its nuclear arsenal—I repeat, a legitimate arsenal—in accordance with its interests and its obligations under international law,” Lavrov said.
Approximately 150-200 U.S. tactical, or non-strategic, nuclear weapons are deployed in Europe, spread out between bases in Turkey, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. The weapons are made up of B61 air-dropped bombs that are set to undergo refurbishment over the next decade. Arms control advocates have called for the removal of the tactical nuclear weapons, and Russia has made their removal a contingent of future arms control talks.
Lawmakers Call for Shift in Approach With Russia
Turner and Rogers, however, said Russia’s statements about deploying nuclear weapons in Crimea and Moscow’s alleged violations of the INF Treaty represented further escalation of aggression toward the U.S. Their letter also asks for details of the Obama Administration’s planned response to prevent Russia from deploying nuclear weapons in Crimea. “In order to change the outcome, we must face the reality in front of us: Putin is an adversary of the United States,” Turner said in a statement. “It is imperative that President Obama, Secretary Kerry, Secretary Hagel and the rest of the Administration abandon the false narrative of what they want Russia to be and shift their focus, strategy, and posture to what Putin’s actions are.”
In a separate statement, Rogers called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “thug” that “breaks treaties, he invades countries and then stations his nuclear forces on their soil, and he cozies up to terrorist regimes like [Syria’s] Assad’s, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, and the mullahs in Tehran.” He accused the Administration of having no plan to prevent Putin from putting nuclear weapons in Crimea. “I have said repeatedly that I will work with the Administration if they show me they are taking these matters seriously,” Rogers said. “For months I’ve been asking the Administration how they will prevent Putin from stationing his nuclear forces on Ukrainian soil in Crimea. The Administration has no plan; the security of our allies cannot afford a continued delay.”