President Duda urges US to deploy nuclear weapons in Poland’s territory

Polish President Andrzej Duda has urged the United States to transfer nuclear weapons to Polish territory as a deterrent against potential Russian aggression, a move likely to be perceived as highly provocative by Moscow.

Duda stated that it was “obvious” that President Donald Trump could redeploy U.S. nuclear warheads stored in Western Europe or the U.S. to Poland, revealing that he recently discussed the proposal with Keith Kellogg, U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Financial Times.

“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 in an interview with the Financial Times. “I think it’s not only that the time has come, but that it would be safer if those weapons were already here.”

The Polish president is seeking to revive a nuclear-sharing project that he initially proposed to the Biden administration in 2022 but failed to gain support for at the time. During the Cold War, Poland’s Communist government hosted Soviet nuclear warheads, but bringing such weapons back under U.S. control near Russia’s borders would undoubtedly escalate tensions with the Kremlin.

Duda emphasized that the ultimate decision on the deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons rests with Trump but pointed to Russia’s 2023 decision to move tactical nuclear weapons to its ally, Belarus.

“Russia did not even hesitate when they were relocating their nuclear weapons into Belarus,” Duda said. “They didn’t ask anyone’s permission.”

The proposal is likely to spark strong reactions from Russia, which has repeatedly warned against NATO military expansions and the stationing of strategic weapons near its borders. While Poland has been a staunch supporter of NATO’s military build-up in Eastern Europe, the introduction of nuclear weapons onto its soil would mark a significant escalation in the region’s security dynamics.

By Khagan Isayev