On March 15, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store announced that he would not allow the deployment of nuclear weapons on his territory, although the country's security foundation is said to depend heavily on NATO's strategic deterrence capabilities.
Speaking at a press conference attended by Prime Ministers of Nordic countries and Canada, Mr. Store affirmed that Norway "does not change the law and does not need to change it" when asked about whether to open discussions to ease regulations related to nuclear weapons.
Our policy is very clear. There will be no deployment of nuclear weapons in Norway," Prime Minister Store said, while still expressing willingness to discuss the possibility of strategic cooperation with Paris, referring to French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal to deploy nuclear weapons on the territory of other NATO countries.
The Norwegian leader noted that any new initiative should not "weaken" the coalition's existing nuclear policy.
In early March, President Macron delivered an important speech on France's new nuclear strategy, emphasizing that Paris would strengthen its arsenal and mentioning the possibility of "temporary deployment" of French strategic nuclear bombers in NATO allies.
Finland immediately responded to the idea of the Elysee Palace owner, saying they would find ways to amend the law to allow the deployment of nuclear weapons on its territory.
Moscow has condemned the above move, warning that it will lead to "escalation of tensions on the European continent".
If Finland threatens Russia by deploying nuclear weapons on its territory, Moscow will "take appropriate measures" - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Helsinki then repeatedly downplayed the significance of this decision, emphasizing that Finland does not want to deploy nuclear weapons and that NATO currently has no plans to deploy such weapons.
These moves are taking place in the context of increasing discussions in Europe on strategic deterrence, after the final nuclear weapons control treaty binding Russia and the United States - the two countries with the world's largest nuclear arsenal - expired.
Moscow affirms that it does not threaten European countries, but will direct its nuclear arsenal to any country that allows the deployment of nuclear weapons against Russia.
