U.S. signals its nuclear arms stay in Europe for now

TALLINN (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday appeared to rule out an early withdrawal of battlefield nuclear arms from Europe and said that if it cut its arsenal it would want Russia to pull its weapons back from NATO territory.

The stance sketched out by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is likely to please former Soviet satellites in the Western security alliance who view the tactical nuclear weapons as critical to deterring Russia.

However, it may frustrate those that regard them as Cold War relics with little military justification but that bring huge risks -- including of accidents or nuclear terrorism -- to the nations that house them.

"As long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance," Clinton said in remarks released by the State Department and prepared for delivery to foreign ministers in the 28-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

"As a nuclear alliance, sharing nuclear risks and responsibilities is fundamental," she added.

The reference to the sharing of risks and burdens implied that some of the estimated 200 U.S. tactical nuclear weapons deployed in five European nations were likely to stay for now.

Clinton also said that if the United States cut its arsenal of battlefield nuclear arms, it would want Russia to move its arms away from NATO territory, to better account for them and to include them in the next round of arms control talks.

Russia's arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons is estimated at 5,400 weapons, 2,000 of which are deployable.