Doubting U.S. resolve, Europe looks to bolster its own nuclear arsenal

WASHINGTON — Questioning America’s decades-long commitment to guard them against a nuclear-armed Russia, European nations are looking at ways to bolster their own arsenals rather than continue to rely on the U.S., according to six senior European officials.

European leaders are discussing whether to rely more on nuclear-armed France and Britain instead of the U.S. or even develop their own atomic weapons, three of the senior European officials said. The discussions have taken on a new urgency in recent weeks as President Donald Trump, who blasted European nations in a speech at Davos on Wednesday, demands the U.S. acquire Greenland, these officials said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country is the only member of the European Union with the bomb, is expected to deliver a major speech on France’s nuclear policy in the coming weeks, the officials said.

“We are discussing how to protect Europe with a nuclear deterrent with or without the United States,” one of the European officials said. Another described the discussions among European leaders about ways to guard against a nuclear-armed Russia without the U.S. as “intense and productive.”