France is preparing to expand its nuclear arsenal and potentially deploy nuclear-capable fighter jets across Europe, raising the stakes of a confrontation with Russia as Moscow warns the initiative could destabilize nuclear security.

French President Emmanuel Macron's "forward deterrence" strategy has attracted 10 European nations, potentially extending France's nuclear reach across the continent as tensions with Russia intensify, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. The initiative comes amid growing European doubts about American nuclear security guarantees and renewed concerns over the possibility of nuclear conflict between Russia and NATO, according to the European Parliament.

"France's forward deterrence initiative further adds to and complements NATO's nuclear deterrence, it does not replace it," a NATO official told the Daily Caller News Foundation. "As France's nuclear forces are independent and France determines its nuclear doctrine nationally, questions about the initiative's specific arrangements are best addressed to the French authorities."

Opinions were divided among experts as to whether this would heighten or reduce nuclear tensions in Europe.

"If France were to put nuclear weapons in other nations, it would erode the rule of law by violating the Nonproliferation Treaty in the same way that the United States and Russia have done," David Swanson, executive director of World BEYOND War, told the DCNF. "It would increase the risk of accidental or intentional use. And it would increase hostility and fuel the escalating arms race."

"In fact, it reduces nuclear risks," Robert Peters, director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for National Security at the Heritage Foundation, told the DCNF. "This is a measured response to Russian nuclear coercive threats and their refusal to de-escalate and disarm their theater nuclear forces."

The participating nations include the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Greece, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, according to the Journal.

The Embassy of Finland confirmed to the DCNF that it joined the French Forward Deterrence on 14 Sept. 2026.

"The initiative is first and foremost about strengthening European security. It reinforces Europe's responsibility for its own defence and helps prevent escalation," Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in a statement on social media after joining the initiative.

The Embassies of France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Greece, Finland and Norway did not respond to a request for comment.

"This is driven by the perception of a greater threat from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine," Jeff Knopf, professor and chair of the Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, told the DCNF. "Perhaps even more important, this is driven by growing doubts about the reliability of the United States as an ally. Finally, this is also an attempt by France to place itself at the center of European defense."

However, Moscow has already condemned France's nuclear ambitions, warning that expanding NATO's nuclear capabilities could further threaten Russian security.

"If it works as intended, France's expanded nuclear deterrence would make nuclear war with Russia less likely by complicating Russia's calculus related to nuclear threats and especially nuclear attack," Philipp Bleek, professor of nonproliferation and terrorism studies and fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, told the DCNF. "I think it's possible that France's expanded nuclear deterrence efforts help ameliorate, rather than exacerbate, tensions within Europe and with NATO broadly. But there's certainly potential for the opposite, too."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described Macron's decision to expand France's nuclear arsenal as an "extremely destabilising development."

"The expansion of the French arsenal and its discussions with other European nations that border Russia about potentially using their territory for its nuclear-armed aircraft is escalatory," Alistair Burnett, head of communications for the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, told the DCNF. "The response to Russia's nuclear threats is not counter-threats. It should be to de-escalate and return to diplomacy and dialogue in order to defuse tensions with Russia."

Macron announced in March that France would increase its nuclear stockpile and stop publicly disclosing the number of warheads it possesses, departing from its previous transparency practices, according to the Élysée Palace.

France possesses an estimated 290 nuclear warheads in its military stockpile, compared with approximately 4,400 Russian and 3,700 American warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

"Given that both Russia and the United States allowed the New START agreement to lapse without a replacement in 2026, there is currently nothing holding back an arms race," Matthew Wallin, chief executive officer of the American Security Project, told the DCNF. "Generally speaking, the more nuclear weapons are out there in the world, the more likely the risk of accidental usage or unintended escalation."

The French president also delivered a stark warning about the destructive power of his country's nuclear weapons.

"If we had to use our arsenal, no State, however powerful, could shield itself from it; and no State, however vast, could recover," Macron said during his March address.

France's nuclear posture differs from America's existing nuclear-sharing arrangements because its ASMP-A nuclear-armed cruise missiles are designed to strike targets deep inside Russia, including major cities, the Journal reported, citing military officials and analysts.

Whether that approach ultimately reduces the danger of nuclear conflict or creates new opportunities for escalation remains uncertain as France and its European partners expand their nuclear cooperation.

"President Macron has said that to be free you need to be feared," Burnett told the DCNF. "His nuclear rhetoric, which resembles that of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, is self-indulgent sabre-rattling. It is justified by reference to the perceived Russian threat as well as the unreliability of the U.S. But it is consistent with France's long-standing ambition to lead Europe in becoming more independent of the U.S."