The Polish government has discussed the possibility of nuclear sharing with the US, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda revealed in an interview published Wednesday.
The president has not disclosed with whom the Polish government has spoken in Washington, nor any specifics.
“The first problem is that we don’t have nuclear weapons. There is no indication that we, as Poland, will have it in our hands in the near future,” Polish newspaper Gazeta Polska quoted Duda as saying.
“There is always a potential opportunity to participate in the Nuclear Sharing program. We spoke to American leaders about whether the United States was considering this possibility. The topic is open.”
Nuclear Sharing
The US and NATO have publicly come out against deploying nuclear weapons in countries that joined the alliance after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
A White House official Stars and Stripes spoke with expressed no knowledge of the matter and referred the query to the Polish government.
The outlet described nuclear sharing ranging from offering escort and reconnaissance aircraft for a nuclear mission to providing dual-capable jets to host an ally’s nuclear weapon.
Russia Deterrent
It could also include hosting an ally’s nuclear weapon on one’s territory, similar to what Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and Turkey are doing with the US.
A Warsaw diplomat spoke to the outlet, saying any option “would be in the security interest of Poland, the region, and all of Europe.”
Duda’s remarks follow Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński’s statement in March, where he offered to host US nuclear weapons in the country as a deterrence against Russia.