Finland Has No Plans to Place Nuclear Weapons on Its Territory

On Monday, the Yle news portal reported, citing Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, that Finland has no plans to deploy nuclear weapons into its territory after joining NATO.

According to the portal, Niinisto, speaking at the opening of the National Defense Course, said, "There is no indication that anyone offers the Finns such weapons."

The Finnish president added that "nuclear weapons are an integral part of NATO's deterrence forces" but that they are "a tool of prevention, not an end in themselves," the news portal said.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, commenting on the government's draft proposal for NATO membership, noted that Finland does not aim to deploy such weapons.

On May 18, Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership. However, Turkey immediately blocked its accession and demanded that these countries declare Kurdish organizations terrorists, hand over individuals accused of terrorist activity or participating in the 2016 coup attempt to Ankara, as well as lift the embargo on arms supplies to Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks with Niinisto, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on June 28, ahead of the NATO Summit in Madrid.

The talks resulted in a memorandum on the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, which will be ratified by all member states of the alliance.