Alex Salmond has said a final deal on removing Trident nuclear submarines from an independent Scotland would be delayed until 2016 and remain conditional on his party being re-elected.

In an interview on the Andrew Marr show on BBC1, Scotland's first minister appeared to soften his stance on the immediate future of the Trident fleet on the Clyde in the event of a yes vote in next September's independence referendum.

Salmond told the Scottish National party's annual conference on Saturday that a white paper setting out his government's key proposals for independence would be published on 26 November, four days before Scotland celebrates St Andrew's Day.

He told Marr that a future SNP government would resist demands from the UK government for Trident to remain in Scotland through a deal to lease the Clyde submarine base in same way that the UK leases its base on Cyprus.

The SNP would insist on the weapons being removed, he said. "A country has the right to say we don't want to possess nuclear weapons, either our own or anyone else's."

The future of the Trident fleet is one of the most contentious in the Scottish independence debate: removing the fleet and the warheads and building a new base and nuclear weapons complex in England or Wales would be difficult, time-consuming and cost billions.

But Salmond implied that Trident's fate would not be decided during the 18 months of independence negotiations that would start within days of a yes vote on 18 September 2014, when Scottish and UK ministers would be wrestling over a currency deal, sharing national debt, splitting up the UK's North Sea oil and gas fields and sharing welfare and pension arrangements.

He said: "The time period for their removal: once Scotland became independent and after, of course, people have elected their first government in an independent Scotland, but if it were to be an SNP government then we would ask the submarines to be removed from Scotland as soon as was safely possible. And the emphasis, obviously on safety, because no one would want to compromise that in any way."

That apparent concession is significant for the independence talks. Although this has not been accepted yet by the UK government, Salmond wants Scotland to declare its independence formally and legally in March 2016, with its first parliamentary elections in May 2016.

That longer timetable would allow both governments more time to prepare for a well-ordered withdrawal and relocation of Trident, giving ministers in Westminster more breathing space to consider their options.

But crucially for Salmond, that tone of compromise also suggests his government is worried about its chances of joining Nato. The Scottish government has been warned that joining the alliance – a policy which is crucial to win over mainstream Scottish voters to independence – would be conditional on a full and mutually agreed settlement on Trident.

Angus Robertson, the SNP's defence spokesman and leader at Westminster, said Salmond was being consistent with government policy. "We would like to see talks taking place on this now to help prepare for a possible yes vote, as indeed the Westminster defence select committee recommended," he said.

"Trident would certainly be part of negotiations following a yes vote. Of course Trident could only be removed from Scotland once Scotland becomes an indy country, and SNP policy on that is clear, which is at the earliest possible safe moment."

In his interview, Salmond confirmed that Scotland would expect to split up the UK armed forces by taking control over "assets" in the British army, RAF and Royal Navy, including large surface ships. But the Scottish defence force would continue to co-operate closely with the UK armed forces and other Nato partners.

Despite opinion polls showing a healthy lead for the no campaign, Salmond said he was confident his party would win the referendum. A large majority of voters in Scotland trusted his government above David Cameron's in Westminster, he said.

"Identity is of course important to people but it's also a question of where best Scotland should be governed from and where people trust the parliament, the government to be," he said. "And I think that the majority of people in Scotland trust the government in Edinburgh, trust the Scottish government to operate in Scottish interests, and a very small minority of people trust the UK government."