France is pressing Germany to define how it would use long-range missiles in the event of a conflict with Russia, warning that failing to do so risks accidentally dragging all of Europe into a nuclear war, the Financial Times reported on Nov. 11. Paris is holding talks with German officials in a bid to align Berlin’s doctrine on the use of weapons that are capable of carrying out what are known as “deep precision strikes” (DPS) with France’s nuclear strategy, according to six people familiar with the discussions. One French official warned that it would be possible to attack a Russian target with a conventional weapon but “get a nuclear response.” He added: “If the Russians don’t get the signal right, you could get to the nuclear threshold without realizing [it].”

FT notes that Germany, the UK, Poland, and the Baltic and Nordic states are all seeking to acquire long-range strike capabilities to “deter” Russia. “Berlin is acquiring and developing a raft of ground-launched missiles with ranges from 500 km to more than 2,000 km that would enable its armed forces to hit targets deep inside Russia,” it says. The problem, FT goes on, is that there is no integrated strike doctrine on how and when all of these weapons will be employed, leaving unanswered the question of what kind of response their use would expect to draw from the Kremlin.