announced in a joint statement on Monday. The move extends the measure to a country sharing a long border with Russia. France is expanding its nuclear deterrent to European allies as the continent reassesses its security following US President Donald Trump's shake-up of NATO. The two countries said a nuclear steering group would be set up in the coming months to begin implementing the cooperation. Eight countries were initially on board: Britain, Germany, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece and Denmark. Norway joined in May. Monday's announcement formed part of a new strategic partnership between Finland and France, due to be signed by their foreign ministers later in the day in Helsinki. Finnish President Alexander Stubb confirmed the decision on X, saying it was "first and foremost about strengthening European security”. He stressed that the French nuclear deterrent would not "replace or overlap" with NATO's, adding that "Finland's foremost priority is to act as part of NATO and the European Union”. The initiative would extend France's nuclear deterrent to other European countries through joint exercises and, for the first time, allow participating countries to temporarily host French nuclear-armed aircraft. Paris would retain national control over its arsenal, with the final decision on its use remaining with the French president. Finland abandoned decades of military non-alignment when it joined NATO in 2023, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Its parliament voted in June to lift the country's blanket ban on nuclear weapons, allowing them to be brought into, transported through, supplied or possessed in Finland when required for the country's defense. (Bssnews)