NATO chief assures that “no one in Europe is talking about replacing the American nuclear umbrella”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Saturday that no one in Europe is trying to replace the US nuclear umbrella, after Germany announced it was talking with France about joint nuclear deterrence, AFP reports.

“I think all the talk in Europe about collectively strengthening the nuclear deterrent is a good thing, but no one in Europe envisages doing it to replace the American nuclear umbrella,” Mark Rutte told reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

The NATO chief also mentioned during the conference on Saturday that Russia is suffering “crazy losses” in Ukraine, amounting to 65,000 troops in the last two months alone.

Then, during a round table, Mark Rutte said that the NATO alliance is strong enough that Russia will not try to attack it, reports Reuters.

“We will win any fight with Russia if they attack us now, and we need to make sure that this is true in two, four or six years,” the NATO secretary general said.