Poland has upped the nuclear rhetoric with Russia, on Monday suggesting NATO nuclear warheads could soon be positioned on its territory. It comes amid general NATO euphoria in the wake of the US House finally passing Biden's giant aid package for Ukraine, despite widespread acknowledgement that Ukrainian forces are being beaten by Russia.
Polish President Andrzej Duda declared in a fresh and hugely provocative statement that Poland is "ready" to host nuclear weapons should NATO decide to do so as reinforcement of its eastern flank. The words were issued in an interview published Monday by Polish outlet Fakt.
"Russia is increasingly militarizing the Königsberg oblast (Kaliningrad). Recently, it has been relocating its nuclear weapons to Belarus,” Duda continued, apparently wanting to match and mirror Russian moves.
"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.
Duda additionally said while discussing the topic of NATO's nuclear sharing program in the interview that Warsaw and Washington have been in talks "for some time."
"I've already talked about it several times. I must admit that when asked about it, I declared our readiness," he emphasized.
But the reality is Brussels and Washington are likely to be deeply hesitant based on the nuclear threats emanating from Moscow of late. Moving NATO warheads to Polish soil would most certainly greatly intensify the already somewhat high nuclear tensions, and at a moment the proxy war in Ukraine shows no sings of abating.
While three NATO members are officially nuclear weapons states - the United States, France and the United Kingdom – others are authorized to host nukes (typically 'tactical' nuclear weapons). They are Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.
Apparently Poland is now throwing its name in the hat for NATO's nuclear-sharing program, which would expand Western nuke placement right up to Russia's backyard...
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In the new Polish media interview, President Duda also addressed his positive relationship with Republican frontrunner and former President Donald Trump. He spoke fondly of Turmp, saying the two find agreement on "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."
