Polish President Andrzej Duda has just declared that his country is ready to deploy nuclear weapons if NATO decides to deploy them, following Russia's deployment in Belarus and Kaliningrad.
Poland is a NATO member and a supporter of Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. It shares borders with both Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and Belarus – Moscow's closest ally.
"If our allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons on our territory as part of nuclear sharing, to bolster NATO's eastern flank, we are ready to do so," Duda said in an interview published in the Polish daily Fakt on April 22.
President 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, he visited Washington D.C., where he met with current US President Joe Biden.
Mr. Duda said that discussions on nuclear cooperation between Poland and the United States have been going on "for some time."
"I've spoken about this many times already. I have to admit that when asked about it, I declare my readiness," the Polish president said, arguing that Russia is increasingly militarizing Kaliningrad and that Moscow recently transferred its nuclear weapons to Belarus.
Kaliningrad is a territory separated from the Russian Federation, located on the Baltic Sea. Poland borders Kaliningrad and Belarus. Photo: TRT World
Last June, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Russia had sent tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, a country bordering Ukraine and Poland.
Responding to the latest statement by the Polish president regarding nuclear weapons, the Kremlin said on April 22 that the Russian military would analyze any move by Warsaw to acquire US nuclear weapons.
"The military will analyze the situation. If these plans are implemented, all necessary steps will be taken to ensure our security," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The US currently has nuclear weapons stationed in five NATO member countries, including Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Türkiye.
Russia and the United States are the two leading nuclear powers. Currently, the US deploys 1,419 strategic warheads on hundreds of bombers and missiles, while Russia has 1,549. Both sides are modernizing their nuclear launch systems. The number of warheads is calculated according to the provisions of the New START agreement, which was extended for five years in January 2021.
Russia suspended its participation in the treaty on February 21 last year. In response, the U.S. took measures to restrict information sharing and verification. However, both the U.S. and Russia are committed to adhering to the treaty's core limitations on strategic force deployment until 2026.
New START limits each nation to 1,550 strategically deployed warheads and stipulates that only one nuclear warhead can be deployed per deployed heavy bomber, regardless of how many warheads that bomber carries .
Minh Duc (Based on The Guardian, Reuters, Arms Control)
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