Polish President Andrzej Duda, in an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday, the 13th of March, called on US President Donald Trump to move US nuclear weapons in Western Europe or the US to Poland to deter Russia from further aggression against Europe, citing the publication, reports Politico.
Duda added that he had recently discussed the idea with Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg.
“I think it’s not only time, but it would be safer if these weapons were already here,” Duda told the newspaper.
“NATO’s borders were expanded eastwards in 1999, so 26 years later NATO’s infrastructure should also be moving eastwards. This seems obvious to me,” Duda said.
“Russia did not hesitate at all when it moved its nuclear weapons to Belarus. They did not ask anyone for permission,” the Polish President added.
IN MOSCOW, HOWEVER, THE PROPOSAL IS LIKELY TO BE SEEN AS HIGHLY PROVOCATIVE.
Duda’s comments came after he said last month that Poland would be “very happy” to host American troops if Germany did not want them. He was responding to a warning by German chancellor-designate Friedrich Merz that the Trump administration does not care about Europe and that the continent urgently needs to strengthen its defences.
On the 7th of March, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that Poland wants access to nuclear weapons and wants to build a 500 000-strong army to strengthen its defence against the Russian threat. Tusk said that Poland was “seriously talking” to France about the possibility of using the French nuclear umbrella for protection.
According to the newspaper, Duda agreed with Tusk that Poland could ask, if not the US, at least France for nuclear protection, but rejected the possibility that Poland could develop its own nuclear weapons. “I think it would take decades,” he said.