Allies lobby Biden to prevent shift to 'no first use' of nuclear arms

US allies are lobbying Joe Biden not to change American policy on the use of nuclear weapons amid concern the president is considering a “no first use” declaration that could undermine long-established deterrence strategies aimed at Russia and China.

The lobbying — by treaty allies including Britain, France and Germany in Europe, and Japan and Australia in the Indo-Pacific — comes as the Biden administration is in the middle of a “nuclear posture review”, a regular inter-agency process that sets US policy on nuclear weapons.

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Richard Fontaine, chief executive of the Center for a New American Security in Washington, argued that threats from Russia, China and North Korea have only increased since the Obama administration, meaning it was “not the time for a US ‘no first use’ pledge”.

Read the full story and more from the Financial Times.