§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what figure NATO has determined as the minimum number of nuclear weapons it requires in Europe in order to fulfil its strategy of flexible response; and whether that number is contingent on the number of nuclear weapons possessed by the USSR.
§ Mr. Ian StewartNATO's nuclear planning group Ministers agreed at Montebello in 1983 to reduce the Alliance's nuclear stockpile in Europe to 4,600 warheads. This has now been achieved. It is and will remain NATO's policy to maintain only the minimum number of nuclear weapons necessary for credible deterrence. The strategy of flexible response does not require us to match Warsaw Pact forces weapon for weapon.