MOSCOW: Russia condemned on Tuesday a French security initiative to bring European countries under its nuclear umbrella as a “reckless” policy that was “creating risks” for Moscow.
“Of course, this is creating risks for us. And of course, we must control it,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.
Finland said this week it would join the project, which extends France’s nuclear deterrent to other European countries through joint exercises.
It allows participating countries, for the first time, to temporarily host French nuclear-armed aircraft.
Paris would retain national control over its nuclear arsenal, with the final decision on its use remaining with the French president.
Finland abandoned decades of military non-alignment when it joined NATO in 2023 after the Russia-Ukraine war started in 2022.
Zakharova said that the placement of French nuclear hardware closer to Russia’s borders would only make it “simpler” for Russia’s military to hit it in the event of a conflict.
“We would describe this French initiative, to put it mildly and in very diplomatic terms, as reckless,” she said.
Finland is the 10th European country to agree to join the plan to access France’s nuclear stockpile.
Eight countries were initially on board — Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden. Norway then joined in May.
