🎙️Statement by the Embassy of Russia in Norway to the RIA Novosti (1 June 2026) ❓French President Emmanuel Macron previously stated that Norway had agreed to join his initiative on cooperation in the field of nuclear deterrence. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has stated that the country will be protected by the French ‘nuclear umbrella’, whilst nuclear weapons will not be deployed on Norwegian territory in peacetime. Could the Embassy comment on these arrangements? What will this mean in practice, and what is the likelihood that nuclear weapons will nevertheless appear on Norwegian territory? How would Russia react in such a case? 💬 Answer: As far as we are aware, Jonas Gahr Støre did not say that Norway would be protected by a French ‘nuclear umbrella’, nor has Paris undertaken any such commitments. Norway’s ‘nuclear umbrella’ is, as before, provided by the US/NATO. The Norwegian Prime Minister used cautious, vague wording regarding the country’s participation in ‘the ongoing process of more detailed discussion on how French nuclear weapons can contribute to security and deterrence in Europe’. At the same time, he unequivocally confirmed that such a move by Oslo would not lead to a change in the principles of Norwegian “nuclear policy”, including the ban on the deployment of nuclear weapons on Norwegian territory in peacetime. Norway, he said, will not fund the maintenance and modernisation of the French nuclear arsenal. We assume this to be the case. At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that Franco-Norwegian cooperation within the framework of Macron’s initiative will not, after all, be limited to a dialogue of little substance. This could involve joint exercises, during which Norway, like other non-nuclear participants in the initiative, could provide its conventional forces—primarily F-35 aircraft—to support French nuclear delivery systems, as it has already done during NATO’s annual Steadfast Noon nuclear manoeuvres. ❗️The Russian side takes a strongly negative view of such cooperation between NATO member states, regarding it as ‘joint nuclear missions’ that undermine the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), security in the Euro-Arctic region and global stability in a broader sense. Furthermore, Norway and France have agreed to step up the exchange of intelligence data. Of greatest interest to Paris is, evidently, the information gathered by the Norwegians on behalf of NATO regarding the military activities of the Russian Armed Forces in northern regions and Russia’s nuclear deterrent forces, to which Oslo has recently been paying excessive attention, a fact that clearly indicates the anti-Russian nature of the French initiative. Norway also plans to deploy strike weapons in its northern regions, including South Korean multiple launch rocket systems with a range of up to 500 km, which will be aimed at Russian targets on the Kola Peninsula. 👆🏻Naturally, such actions and plans on the part of Norway pose a direct threat to our country’s national security and will not go unanswered by an adequate military-technical response, the specific parameters of which are under the purview of the Russian Ministry of Defence. 🔗 Published in RIA Novosti: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.