Nuclear deterrence: Macron aims to explore European cooperation options by mid-year

French President Emmanuel Macron has stated that he aims to determine by mid-year what forms of cooperation are possible among European countries regarding nuclear deterrence.

"We will begin a phase in which our technical experts will engage with each other… This will be both a strategic and technical dialogue, followed by interactions at the level of heads of state and government, so that by the middle of the year we can see whether a new form of cooperation can emerge," Macron said, as quoted by Le Figaro. 

Macron noted that during the summit, many leaders, including those of Lithuania, Poland and Denmark, had expressed interest in this topic during discussions with him. 

Last weekend, Macron first raised the possibility of offering its "nuclear umbrella" to European allies in a strategic speech on 5 March, also reaffirming France’s readiness to do so.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described Macron’s proposal as a threat to Russia.