PARIS - France is prepared to open discussions with other European countries on deploying French warplanes armed with nuclear weapons on their territory, as the United States does in certain nations, President Emmanuel Macron said on May 13.
"The Americans have the bombs on planes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkey," Mr Macron told TF1 television.
"We are ready to open this discussion. I will define the framework in a very specific way in the weeks and months to come."
Mr Macron also listed three conditions for such a move, namely that "France will not pay for the security of others" and it "will not come at the expense of what we need."
"The final decision will always rest with the president of the republic, as the head of the armed forces," he added.
The United States is believed to have around 50 nuclear bombs stored at the Incirlik air base, in the south of Nato member Turkey.
France is the EU's only nuclear armed nation and discussion is growing after the Russian invasion of Ukraine over extending the French nuclear deterrent to its partners.
Poland, like France a key ally of Ukraine and an increasingly significant force in the EU, has already made clear it would be eager to benefit from France's nuclear deterrent.
Mr Macron added: "There has always been a European dimension in the consideration of what we call vital interests. We do not elaborate on this because ambiguity goes hand in hand with the deterrent."
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