Bloomberg: For the first time since the end of the Cold War, Europe is discussing developing its own nuclear weapons

European countries are discussing creating their own nuclear defense system for the first time since the end of the Cold War, as the United States is no longer a reliable military partner.

Bloomberg reports this, citing sources.

Currently, only the UK and France have nuclear weapons. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to offer the rest of Europe a nuclear deterrent in his speech at the Munich Security Conference, sources said.

Replacing the US “nuclear umbrella” with new European weapons is unaffordable for most countries, among other problems, experts say. The continent is already spending huge sums to strengthen its conventional military power. In 2025, the European Union, together with the UK, spent more than $530 billion on defense — more than half of Poland’s GDP.

Bloomberg notes that given enough money, other European countries could theoretically acquire nuclear missiles. But that would require painful decisions: high costs and violations of international treaties if countries wanted to develop their own arsenals, or accepting that a commitment to defend an ally almost certainly means risking becoming a target for attack themselves.

Thatʼs why Europe is acting cautiously. Officials are closely monitoring the signals they are sending to Russia as they consider this issue, the source said, so discussions are taking place in a bilateral or trilateral format between countries with a high level of trust.

The countries involved in these discussions typically host US military facilities close to Russia and face an immediate threat from the Russian Federation. According to Bloomberg, the talks are taking place at a deep military level — even ministers may not be aware of them.

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