Discussed “several times” with the USA
Poland is ready to station nuclear weapons
April 22, 2024, 11:55 a.m
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Against the backdrop of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, NATO has committed itself to a “nuclear deterrence mission”. In an emergency, member states can also have US nuclear weapons at their disposal. Now Polish President Duda is open to the deployment.
Poland has declared its willingness to station nuclear weapons to deter Russia. “If our allies decide to station nuclear weapons on our territory within the framework of nuclear sharing in order to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank, we are ready to do so,” said Polish President Andrzej Duda in an interview with the newspaper “Fakt”.
The question of a possible stationing of nuclear weapons in Poland has been discussed between Poland and the USA for “some time,” said Duda. “I have already raised this topic several times.” Duda, who is currently in Canada, discussed the Ukraine war with former US President Donald Trump during a visit to the United States last week. The Polish head of state met Trump’s successor Joe Biden in March.
“Russia is increasingly militarizing the Kaliningrad region,” Duda continued. He also referred to the stationing of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which Moscow moved there in the summer of 2023. Since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons.
At the July 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, alliance members committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure the credibility and effectiveness of “their nuclear deterrence mission, including further modernizing their nuclear capabilities and updating their planning process.”
NATO member Poland is one of Ukraine’s most important supporters and borders both the Russian exclave Kaliningrad and Russia’s ally Belarus.