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By Alia Shoaib
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Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country would be open to hosting U.S. nuclear weapons if war breaks out, becoming the second NATO country to make similar statements in recent weeks.
Kristersson told Swedish public broadcaster P1 Morgon that the deployment of nuclear weapons would not be allowed during peacetime, but that the situation would be different in wartime.
"In a war situation it's a completely different matter. It would depend entirely on what would happen," Kristersson said. "In the absolute worst-case scenario, the democratic countries in our part of the world must ultimately be able to defend themselves against countries that could threaten us with nuclear weapons."
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Kristersson's comments come after Polish President Andrzej Duda said in April that it was "ready" to host NATO nuclear weapons if the alliance wanted to strengthen security on its eastern flank bordering Russia.
The only countries in the alliance with their own nuclear weapons are the U.S., the U.K. and France. However, five other NATO members host U.S. nuclear weapons as part of a nuclear sharing arrangement.
The war in Ukraine has prompted NATO members near Russia to bolster their military capabilities and enhance their defenses against potential threats. Kristersson said that it was important for NATO countries to have the option to access nuclear weapons as long as countries such as Russia have them.
Sweden, which joined NATO in March, is planning to vote on a Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) with the U.S. that would forge a closer security partnership and allow the U.S. to access Swedish military bases and store weapons.
The Swedish government said in January that the defense cooperation agreement would reflect its vital relationship with the U.S.
"The United States is Sweden's most important security and defense partner, both bilaterally and within NATO," the Swedish Defense Ministry said.
Kristersson added that Sweden, not the U.S., would ultimately be in charge of making the final decision about whether or not to allow nuclear weapons on its soil. Groups that oppose the use of nuclear weapons have called on the government to put in the agreement that Sweden would not allow nuclear weapons on its soil.
Russia has long viewed NATO as antagonistic. In 2022, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that his country could deploy nuclear weapons in the Baltic if Finland and Sweden joined NATO—which both subsequently did.
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