They should be careful what they wish for

 Poland: We’re ready to host nuclear weapons

Polish President Andrzej Duda said atomic sharing has been a topic of Warsaw-Washington talks.


“If our allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons as part of nuclear sharing on our territory as well, in order to strengthen the security of NATO's eastern flank, we are ready for it." | Radek Pietruszka/EFE via EPA
APRIL 22, 2024 11:23 AM CET
BY CLAUDIA CHIAPPA


Polish President Andrzej Duda said Poland is “ready” to host nuclear weapons on its territory if NATO decides to reinforce its eastern flank.

“Russia is increasingly militarizing the Königsberg oblast (Kaliningrad). Recently, it has been relocating its nuclear weapons to Belarus,” Duda said in an interview published Monday by Polish outlet Fakt.

“If our allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons as part of nuclear sharing on our territory as well, in order to strengthen the security of NATO's eastern flank, we are ready for it,” he added.


Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin has made veiled nuclear threats toward the West, even stashing atomic weapons in Belarus, which borders NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Duda said nuclear sharing has been the subject of talks between Poland and the U.S. "for some time."

"I've already talked about it several times. I must admit that when asked about it, I declared our readiness," he said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded Monday that Russia "will take all the necessary retaliatory steps to guarantee our security," according to state-owned news service RIA Novosti.

Duda, who recently traveled to New York and met Republican 2024 candidate Donald Trump, spoke fondly of the former president, saying that the two have “a lot of common topics."

“He is a politician with whom I directly cooperated with the United States for four years when he was the president of the United States,” Duda said. “I want to emphasize very strongly that we have been friends since then. I really like talking to him, because he is an extremely interesting personality and has a lot of experience, both political and business.”