NATO member states have started consultations on the need to put nuclear weapons on alert, the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told The Daily Telegraph.

"I won’t go into operational details about how many nuclear warheads should be operational and which should be stored, but we need to consult on these issues. That’s exactly what we’re doing," he said. The NATO chief added that transparency on the issue "helps to communicate the direct message" that NATO is a "nuclear alliance."

"NATO’s aim is, of course, a world without nuclear weapons, but as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will remain a nuclear alliance, because a world where Russia, China and North Korea have nuclear weapons, and NATO does not, is a more dangerous world," Stoltenberg emphasized.