Unlock the White House View Newspaper FREE
Your guide to what the 2024 American elections mean for Washington and the world
Poland’s president has called on the US to transfer nuclear weapons to Polish territory as an obstacle against future Russian aggression, a demand that is likely to be perceived as very provocative in Moscow.
Andrzej Duda said it was “clear” that President Donald Trump could rebuild American nuclear heads preserved in Western Europe or US in Poland, a proposal that the Polish leader said he recently discussed with Keith Kellogg, US special envoy to Ukraine.
“NATO -SU borders moved east to 1999, so 26 years later there should also be a NATO infrastructure shift in the East. For me this is clear,” Duda said in an interview with the Financial Times. “I think it’s not just that the time has come, but it would be safer if those weapons were already here.”
Duda is hoping to resurrect a nuclear division project that he has succeeded in the administration of former President Joe Biden in 2022. The Poland Communist regime received the Warhead’s Soviet during the Cold War, but gathering such weapons again near Russian borders – this time under US control – would be seen as a serious threat.
Duda said it was up to Trump to decide where to place US nuclear weapons, but recalled President Vladimir Putin’s announcement in 2023 that Russia would relocate tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, Moscow’s ally in its occupation of Ukraine.
“Russia did not even hesitate when they were moving their nuclear weapons to Belarus,” Duda said. “They didn’t ask for anyone’s permission.”
Duda’s call to host nuclear weapons underlines increasing anxiety in Poland – shared with other countries in its region – for Russia that emerge reinforced by peace negotiations with Trump -mediated Ukraine.
Duda, who is also a supreme commander of the Poland Armed Forces, echoed Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, saying the country could receive better protection from President Emmanuel Macron’s idea to expand France’s “nuclear umbrella” to cover European allies.
But Duda poured cold water at Tusk’s suggestion last week that Poland could develop its nuclear arsenal. “In order to have our nuclear ability, I think it would take decades,” the president said.
Duda also said he could not foresee Trump to make a turning up for the commitment he made during their meeting last month regarding the maintenance of US troops in Poland.
“Concerns about the SH.BA again taking their military presence from Poland are not justified. We are a reliable ally for the US and they also have their strategic interests here, ”he said.
The Polish president also said he did not consider Trump to develop pro-Moscow negotiations to force Kyiv to stop fighting.
“This is not delicate diplomacy, this is a difficult game, but in my opinion it is not that President Trump is beautiful and gentle with Russia,” Duda said. “I think he is applying instruments against Russia, though he is probably not as noisy and obvious as what he is using against Ukraine.”
“No one has come so far to stop this war, so let’s give a chance to President Trump.”
Last weekend Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski quarreled with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ally Elon Musk Musk on social media over Ukraine’s entry into Musk’s Starlink satellite system, dismissing Sikorski as a “little man”. Tusk came in to call Poland’s allies to show respect for weaker partners than arrogance.
Instead, Duda criticized Sikorski for a “completely unnecessary” intervention on Starlink. “You don’t discuss with the American administration on Twitter, you do it through diplomatic channels,” he said.
Duda, a candidate for the Law and Opposition Justice (PIS), was on his head with the Tusk coalition after they won the parliamentary elections in 2023. He has repeatedly veto the tusk’s reform with the help of judges appointed by Piscancies packing the Constitutional Court.
Asked if the Trump administration could affect the Polish presidential election in May, Duda said he was “convinced the Poles would make their decisions”. But he expressed concern about a contested election result, like the one in Romania, given that judges will also have to prove Polish results.
“There is no doubt that we are currently dealing with a very serious constitutional crisis in Poland,” Duda said. “What happened in Romania is very worrying and does not meet European democratic standards.”
Romania’s Constitutional Court has detained the far -right candidate Călin Georgescu after canceling his first round victory following allegations that he benefited from an illegal campaign orchestrated by Moscow.
The Polish president accused the European Commission of turning a blind eye to Poland’s institutional conflict after allegedly taking “many actions” to return Tusk to power in 2023.
“The European Commission is now pretending not to see this,” Duda said. “And do you know why? This is because Prime Minister Tusk is a member of the same European party as most European Commission members, along with his president (Ursula von der Leyen). “
