Finland has no intention of bringing nuke arms to its territory: Niinistö

President Sauli Niinistö on Monday said that he wanted to state explicitly that although Finland does not set any advance restrictions on its upcoming membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Finland has no intentions of bringing nuclear weapons to its territory.

"Talk of nuclear weapons has quickly become commonplace in recent days, also here in Finland. I consider this a dangerous development," Niinistö said while addressing the formal opening of a national defence course for the political, economic, and civil service elite, reported Xinhua.

He also underlined the need to assess the possibility of peace in the Ukraine conflict "also elsewhere than on the military front."

The President said that he "regards as positive" the pursuit by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to maintain dialogue with Moscow.

"Peace is such an important goal that we must not save any efforts to attain it," he said.

Since 1961, each of such course has brought together 50 politicians, civil servants, and representatives of business and industry for three weeks of tuition and socializing.