:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/FW5G4PSUF5BFNI34GT6NTZHDLA.jpg "Why Poland wants to bring NATO nuclear weapons very close to Russia | Andrzej Duda | Vladimir Putin | Belarus | United States | European Union | Nuclear arsenal | Nuclear bombs | WORLD")
“If our allies decided to deploy nuclear weapons in our territory as part of the nuclear distribution to reinforce the security of the eastern flank of the I’LL TAKE“We are ready,” he declared. Duda to the Polish newspaper Fakt.
He also said that The issue has been the subject of conversations with the United States “for some time”.
Duda he stressed that “Russia is increasingly militarizing Kaliningrad”, the Russian exclave that shares a border with Poland and Lithuania and Putin He has also “been moving nuclear weapons to Belarus.”
At this point, it should be noted that Belarus ruled by Alexander Lukashenko is a key ally of Russia and served as a launching pad for the invasion of ukraine in February 2022.
The day he confirmed that he already had nuclear weapons in Belarus Putin said that it was about a “containment” measure and that served as reminder to anyone who “thinks of inflicting strategic defeat on us.”
Besides, In October 2016, Russia deployed nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad, something that at the time set off alarms among the Baltic countries that are members of NATO.
In Monday’s interview, Duda said Poland is aware of his obligations within the I’LL TAKEa 32-member alliance that includes The United States, the second country with the most nuclear warheads in the world after Russia.
After knowing the statements of Duda the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tuskm aintained that the security and military potential of Poland are his priorities, but he needs to urgently discuss this suggestion with the president, according to the AP agency.
“I would also like any potential initiative to be, first of all, very well prepared by those responsible and (I would like) for all of us to be absolutely sure that we want it,” he said. Tusk.
“This idea is absolutely massive, I would say, and very serious (and) I need to know all the circumstances that have led the president to make this statement,” he commented.
Russia’s response
In Moscow, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov said the same Monday that Any deployment of US nuclear weapons in Poland will be met with measures necessary for Russia’s security.
“The military will, of course, analyze the situation if such plans are carried out, and in any case will do everything necessary, (take) all necessary retaliatory measures to ensure our security,” Peskov stressed during his daily press conference. .
As the Russian authorities and the Russians themselves have repeated more than once Putinthe official doctrine of Russia foresees the use of nuclear weapons in the event that “the very existence of the State” is endangered.
Which NATO countries have nuclear weapons?
Only three NATO members are nuclear powers: the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
According to information from 2023, the United States has a total of 3,708 nuclear warheads stored and deployed.
While France has 290 and the United Kingdom 225.
Which NATO countries store US weapons on their territories?
According to him Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation The United States has nuclear facilities and weapons in allied nations such as Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey.
Washington retains absolute control and custody of these deployed weapons, AP notes.
The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation assures that in the aforementioned territories there are about 150 B-61 nuclear gravity bombs (tactical or non-strategic weapons) that They can be launched from the air.
A NATO nuclear exchange agreement with these countries provides a legal basis for the deployment of American weapons as part of the concept of nuclear deterrence of the alliance.
None of the aforementioned countries has officially recognized that it has nuclear weapons in its territory.
The Spanish portal La Razón specifies that these weapons were deployed in the context of the Cold War in the mid-1950s, under the administration of the president of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The weapons are not deployed on aircraft but stored in underground WS3 hangars, and to be used they must be loaded in hunts defined by the company itself. I’LL TAKE indicates La Razón.
Seven member countries of the I’LL TAKE They have dual-capacity aircraft that can carry conventional bombs or nuclear warheads and are available to be used in case an attack of this type is necessary, AP reports.
International analyst
Due to the historical background, Poland is a country that has many reasons to fear Russia. And even more so now with this situation related to the invasion of Ukraine, the extremely aggressive posture that it is having Putin and the transfer of nuclear weapons to Kaliningrad and Belarus. Faced with all this, Warsaw’s fear is logical, which is why it is willing to host this type of atomic weaponry.
We must remember that there was a complicated moment when the Russians installed medium-range missiles at the time of the Warsaw pact, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Then, the United States said it was going to do the same by deploying intermediate-range missiles in Germany. Now we are in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, which makes the tension greater and Russia’s response to Poland has been to say that it will take “the necessary measures.”
What Poland does is insure itself against the threat of Russian weapons deployed in Belarus. It must be remembered that Poland has the protection of Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, which provides that any country in the alliance that is attacked will be defended by the others. It is a different situation than in Ukraine.
Poland wants to have a kind of insurance, although the nuclear issue always generates controversy that can lead to a verbal escalation, which is what is currently being seen.