NATO Unlikely to Alter Nuclear Posture at Wales Summit

NATO allies that will gather in Wales for a summit today and tomorrow aren’t likely to make any changes to the alliance’s nuclear posture, according to the former U.S. representative to the alliance. Ivo Daalder, who is now the president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, suggested yesterday during a conference call with reporters that any talk of reducing NATO’s nuclear posture is likely to be squashed by actions by Russia, which include comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend that emphasized Moscow’s nuclear firepower. “Although I have long been on record favoring the elimination of nuclear weapons in Europe, under the present circumstances the kind of language that Vladimir Putin was uttering over the weekend, I don’t see a NATO consensus emerging on moving in that direction nor, I am afraid, that we’re going to see the kind of reciprocal cuts that are necessary on the part of Russia in order to move in that direction,” Daalder said.