France offers nuclear weapons to defend Europe - Macron, ready to help the continent against the Russian threat
France is open to discussing expanding the protection offered by its nuclear arsenal to European partners, President Emmanuel Macron said, warning that Europe must confront the threat from Russia. France and Britain are Europe's only two nuclear powers.
"Our nuclear deterrent protects us: it is complete, sovereign, French to the end," Macron said. "But, responding to the historic call of the future German Chancellor, I have decided to open the strategic debate on the protection of our allies on the European continent through our nuclear deterrent," he stressed.
Incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has questioned whether NATO will remain in its "current form" until June and has called for talks with France and Britain on an expansion of their nuclear defenses.
France's nuclear deterrence strategy has so far been defensive and aimed at protecting the country's vital interests.
Macron also said France would have to spend more on its military and would continue to help Ukraine. He acknowledged voters' concerns about Russia and the new US administration's shake-up of the international order.
"Russia has become a threat to France and Europe," he said, adding that "to watch and do nothing would be madness."
The French president also said he hopes to "convince the President of the United States" not to impose tariffs on European imports.
In the early days of the Cold War, former President Charles de Gaulle developed a nuclear deterrent that was designed to be completely independent of the two dominant powers of the time, the Soviet Union and the United States.
France's nuclear deterrent is deployed in the air and at sea, with Rafale fighter jets and nuclear submarines that can strike at any time, only upon the instruction of the French president.
According to the Federation of American Scientists, the United States and Russia possess approximately 88 percent of the world's total nuclear weapons inventory. France has about 290 nuclear missiles, while the United Kingdom has 225.
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