Polish President Duda: 'Ready' to Host Nuclear Weapons

If NATO chooses to strengthen its eastern flank in the face of Russia's increasing militarization, Polish President Andrzej Duda said his country is "ready" to host nuclear weapons on its territory.

"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, reported Politico.

Duda added: "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."

Duda noted that as a NATO ally, "we have obligations in this respect, i.e., we simply implement a common policy."

Hosting of nuclear weapons has been a topic of talks between Poland and the United States for some time, Duda said.

"I must admit that when asked about it, I declared our readiness," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been making veiled nuclear threats toward the West since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. That includes storing atomic weapons in Belarus, which borders Poland and NATO allies Lithuania and Latvia. 

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

Duda recently visited with former President Donald Trump in New York, saying that he and the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee 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."

Duda also spoke of President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama and their work with Poland.

"I am happy and proud because I had the honor and pleasure of working with three presidents of the United States, with President Barack Obama, then with President Donald Trump, and now with President Joe Biden, and I can confidently say that each of these terms has strengthened Polish-American relations," said Duda. "Each of these presidents contributed to making this edifice of Polish-American friendship stronger and larger."

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