Poland is willing to host nuclear weapons if NATO decides to deploy them in the face of Russia’s buildup in Belarus and Kaliningrad, President Andrzej Duda said in an interview published Monday.
Poland, a NATO member and strong supporter of Ukraine, shares a border with both the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus, Moscow’s ally.
“If our allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons on our territory as part of the nuclear exchange, to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank, we are willing to do so,” Duda said in an interview published by the Fakt newspaper.
Yves Herman / REUTERS
In response, Moscow warned that it would take measures to “ensure their security” if Warsaw obtained the weapons.
Duda spoke to Polish media after a visit to new yorkwhere he held meetings at the UN and discussed he was in ukraine with former US President Donald Trump.
In March he visited Washington, where he met with President Biden.
Discussions on nuclear cooperation between Poland and the United States have been going on “for some time,” he said.
“I have already talked about this several times. I must confess that when they asked me about it I said we were ready,” Duda said.
“Russia is increasingly militarizing Kaliningrad. It has recently been moving its nuclear weapons to Belarus,” he added.
The Kremlin said it would respond if Poland hosted nuclear weapons.
“The military will, of course, analyze the situation and, in any case, take all necessary response measures to ensure our security,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
In June 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Russia had sent tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.which borders Ukraine and Poland.
During the last NATO summit in Vilnius, the allies committed to “take all necessary measures to ensure the credibility, effectiveness, security and safety of the nuclear deterrent mission.”