BERLIN, July 22. /TASS/. Germany is not seeking to develop its own nuclear weapons, said the first deputy spokesperson for the German government, Steffen Meyer.

"The policy course of the federal government remains unchanged. All efforts of Germany in the sphere of security and defense policy are carried out in the European and trans-Atlantic context. Germany is not seeking to develop a national nuclear weapon," Meyer told reporters. However, he stressed, "Germany adheres to the concept of the joint use of nuclear weapons at NATO and cooperation with France as part of the advanced containment strategy."

According to Meyer, the German government has taken a recent statement from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) about research into nuclear weapons being conducted in Germany into account. Meyer has dismissed this as "untrue."

Earlier, the SVR said that, "according to information coming to the SVR, relevant ministries in a key NATO member state have expressed concern over active nuclear weapons-related research in Germany." "NATO military experts argue that Berlin is capable of independently producing the required fissile material within one to three months and designing a functional nuclear explosive device within one year without conducting a full-scale nuclear test," the SVR warned.