AGI – The Poland is ready to host nuclear weapons if NATO decided to deploy them in response to the strengthening of Russian armaments in Belarus and Kaliningrad: President Andrzej Duda said this in an interview, causing a harsh warning from the Kremlin. Poland, a member of NATO and a staunch supporter of Ukraine, borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus, Moscow’s ally. “If our allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons on our territory as part of nuclear sharing, to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank, we are ready to do so,” Duda said in an interview published by the Fakt newspaper.
The US nuclear sharing agreements provide for the deployment and storage of a nuclear arsenal in Europe, allowing non-nuclear-weapon states to place such weapons on their territory and participate in exercises. In June 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Moscow sent tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which borders Ukraine and Poland. There proximity of Russian nuclear weapons has long made it urgent for Poland to pursue a more active role in NATO’s nuclear sharing mechanism: in 2014, the then deputy defense minister, Tomasz Szatkowski, first declared Poland’s desire to become a nation host following Russia’s annexation of Crimea that year.
Duda spoke to Polish media after his visit to New York, where he held meetings at the United Nations and discussed the war in Ukraine with former US President Donald Trump. In March, you had already visited Washington for talks with US President Joe Biden. Discussions on nuclear cooperation between Poland and the United States have been going on “for some time”, the Polish president said. “I must admit that, when asked about it, I declared our availability”, Duda reported regarding the contents of his talks in the USA.
“The army will obviously analyze the situation and take action in any case all necessary response measures to ensure our security”, commented the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov. For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov declared that “Westerners are dangerously on the brink of a direct military clash between nuclear powers”. The words of Duda – a close ally of the country’s former ruling party, the nationalist Law and Justice – have put the spotlight back on the rift that has opened up between the Polish presidency and government after the last elections in October, won by Donald’s pro-European coalition Tusk. “I really care that Poland lives in safety, that it is armed as best as possible, but I would also like that every possible initiative is, first of all, well prepared by those responsible,” said Prime Minister Tusk.
According to the Polish Constitution, the President of the Republic is formally the supreme head of the armed forces and exercises his functions “through” the Minister of Defense. In the field of foreign policy he is required to “collaborate with the prime minister and the relevant ministers”. “I look forward to meeting President Duda,” Tusk said. At the 2023 Vilnius Summit, the Allies reaffirmed that NATO will do “everything necessary to ensure the credibility, effectiveness and security of its nuclear deterrence mission, including continuing to modernize its nuclear capabilities and upgrading its its planning process”.
Tags: Poland aims host NATO nuclear weapons
