NATO’s Rutte says nuclear drills showed alliance has strong deterrent

NATO chief Mark Rutte said the success earlier this month of the military alliance’s annual nuclear exercise gave him “absolute confidence in the credibility of NATO’s nuclear deterrence”.

“When Russia is using dangerous and reckless nuclear rhetoric, our populations must know that there is no need to panic, because NATO has a strong nuclear deterrent,” he was quoted as saying by German weekly Welt am Sonntag.

“And (Russian President Vladimir) Putin must know that nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought.”

Last month, the Russian President declared that Moscow could use nuclear weapons if it was struck with conventional missiles, and that it would consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack.