Poland’s president calls on US to deploy nuclear weapons on Polish soil
Photo: Reuters
Poland’s president has called on the US to transfer nuclear weapons to Polish territory as a deterrent against future Russian aggression.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Andrzej Duda said it was “obvious” that President Donald Trump could redeploy US nuclear warheads stored in western Europe or the US to Poland, a proposal the Polish leader said he recently discussed with Keith Kellogg, US special envoy for Ukraine.
“The borders of Nato moved east in 1999, so 26 years later there should also be a shift of the Nato infrastructure east. For me this is obvious,” Duda said. “I think it’s not only that the time has come, but that it would be safer if those weapons were already here.”
Duda is hoping to revive a nuclear sharing project that he presented unsuccessfully to former president Joe Biden’s administration in 2022. Poland’s Communist regime hosted Soviet nuclear warheads during the cold war, but stocking such weapons again close to Russia’s borders — this time under US control — would be viewed as a serious threat by the Kremlin.
Duda said it was up to Trump to decide where to deploy US nuclear weapons, but recalled President Vladimir Putin’s announcement in 2023 that Russia would move tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. “Russia did not even hesitate when they were relocating their nuclear weapons into Belarus,” Duda said. “They didn’t ask anyone’s permission.”
Duda, who is also supreme commander of Poland’s armed forces, echoed Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in saying that the country could alternatively get better protection from President Emmanuel Macron’s idea to extend France’s “nuclear umbrella” to cover European allies.
But Duda poured cold water on Tusk’s suggestion last week that Poland could develop its own nuclear arsenal. “In order to have our own nuclear capability, I think it would take decades,” the president said. Duda also said he could not envisage Trump making a U-turn on the commitment he gave during their meeting last month about maintaining US troops in Poland.
“Concerns regarding the US taking back their military presence from Poland are not justified. We are a credible ally for the US and they also have their own strategic interests here,” he said.
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