Poland is ready to welcome nuclear weapons on its territory if NATO, of which it is a member, decides to strengthen its eastern flank in the face of Russia’s deployment of new weapons in neighboring Kaliningrad and Belarus, the Polish president said in an interview published Monday.
“If our allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons within the framework of nuclear sharing on our territory in order to strengthen the security of NATO’s eastern flank, we are ready to do so,” Andrzej Duda explained to the popular daily Fakt.
Asked about this possibility, the Kremlin spokesperson said on Monday that Russia would guarantee its “security” if this were to happen.
“The military will of course analyze the situation and, in any case, will take all necessary retaliatory measures to guarantee our safety,” Dmitri Peskov told the press.
President Duda, who is currently in Canada after a visit to the United States, stressed Monday evening that no decision on the matter had been made.
Potential nuclear sharing “would certainly strengthen our position and our security,” he told Polish media during his trip.
“That’s why we’re raising the issue, but I want to emphasize very strongly here, so there’s no doubt, that no decision has been made on this.”
In his interview with the daily Fakt, the Polish head of state further indicated that the question of a potential deployment of nuclear weapons in Poland had been the subject of discussions between Poland and the United States “for some time “.
“I’ve touched on this topic many times before,” he said. Mr. Duda met his American counterpart Joe Biden in March.
According to Mr. Duda, “Russia is increasingly militarizing the Kaliningrad enclave. It is in the process of transferring its nuclear weapons to Belarus,” two territories which border Poland.
In June 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had transferred the first nuclear weapons to Belarus.
Difficult cohabitation
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk is due to meet his British counterpart Rishi Sunak and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Warsaw.
Questioned Monday by journalists in Warsaw, Mr. Tusk said he wanted to “know all the circumstances which led the president [polonais] to make this declaration.
Since the electoral victory of Donald Tusk’s pro-European coalition in October, Poland has been going through a delicate period of cohabitation, Mr. Duda being a close ally of the former populist nationalist power.
“I am very keen that Poland lives in security, that it is as well armed as possible, but I would also like any possible initiative to be, first of all, very well prepared by the people who are responsible for it ” said Mr. Tusk.
According to the Polish Constitution, the President of the Republic is formally the supreme head of the armed forces exercising his functions “through” the Minister of Defense. In the area of foreign policies, he is required to “collaborate with the Prime Minister and the responsible ministers”.
“I look forward to a meeting with Mr. President Duda,” Mr. Tusk said.
The two politicians have often clashed on domestic policy, but their views on support for Ukraine and the Russian threat have remained largely similar.
At the Vilnius Summit in 2023, Allies reaffirmed that NATO would do “whatever is necessary to ensure the credibility, effectiveness, safety and security of its nuclear deterrent mission, including continuing to modernize its nuclear capabilities and update its planning process.