“Poland ready to host nuclear weapons,” declares president, prompting response from Moscow

Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, has declared during a visit to the United States that his country is ready to host nuclear weapons from its NATO allies. That prompted Russia to announce that it was “analysing the situation” and would “take all necessary steps to ensure our security”.

The initial remarks came during an interview last week with Polish newspaper Fakt, which asked Duda about the idea of “nuclear sharing”, a NATO system under which countries that do not have their own nuclear weapons host those from others that do.

Polska zabiega o broń atomową. Andrzej Duda dla „Faktu”: rozmawiałem o nuclear sharing z Amerykanami https://t.co/Y6PxPZr8Kb

— FAKT.PL (@Fakt_pl) April 19, 2024

“This has been a topic of Polish-American talks for some time,” said the president, who in 2022 first mentioned that such discussions had taken place.

“I do not hide [the fact] that, when asked about it, I declared our readiness,” he continued. “Russia is increasingly militarising the Kaliningrad district [bordering Poland]. Recently, it has been relocating its nuclear weapons to Belarus.”

“If our allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons as part of nuclear sharing on our territory to strengthen the security of NATO’s eastern flank, we are ready for it,” added Duda, who last week met Donald Trump in New York before travelling to Canada for talks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Poland’s President @AndrzejDuda has held a private meeting with Donald Trump at the latter’s residence in New York.

The pair discussed the war in Ukraine and the situation in Gaza.

„He [Duda] is my friend, we’re behind Poland all the way,” said Trump https://t.co/HDgSu35jTl

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 18, 2024

Speaking to reporters today, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked about Duda’s remarks.

“The military will, of course, analyse the situation and, in any case, will take all necessary response steps in order to ensure our security,” he responded, quoted by AFP.

Subsequently, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that he wanted to speak with the president to understand the intention behind his statement. That suggests, writes Rzeczpospolita, a leading daily, that Duda had not consulted beforehand with the government.

“I want Poland to be safe and well-armed, but I would also like any initiatives to be very well prepared by the people responsible for them and for all of us to be convinced that this is what we want,” said Tusk.

Polska gotowa na przyjęcie broni atomowej. Jest deklaracja @AndrzejDuda, ale i wątpliwości @donaldtusk. O sprawie pisze @marek_kozubal

Kliknij w zdjęcie, by przeczytać więcej🔽https://t.co/1kuWG7kkzA

— Rzeczpospolita (@rzeczpospolita) April 22, 2024

Currently, the only three NATO members with their own nuclear weapons are the US, the United Kingdom and France. Under the nuclear sharing programme, such weapons are also currently hosted in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

Last year, Poland’s then-prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, announced that Poland was renewing its appeal to become a participant in the nuclear sharing programme in response to Russia’s decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

News website Onet notes that Duda’s latest declaration of Poland’s readiness to host nuclear weapons is probably related to the imminent delivery of 32 F-35 combat aircraft it arranged to buy from the US in 2020. They are capable of carrying B61 nuclear bombs.

The first F-35s are due to arrive later this year, but initially only for training purposes. The Polish armed forces will be able to deploy the aircraft from 2026.

Polish foreign ministry spokesman:

„Putin’s decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus…further increases tensions…[and] is a further step towards drawing Belarus into the Russian war machine…It also poses risks to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons” https://t.co/17sTZRMvcR

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 26, 2023

Main image credit: Jakub Szymczuk/KPRP

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.