Poland is open to accepting nuclear weapons if NATO decides to deploy them on its territory, President Andrzej Duda said in an interview, AFP reported.
Poland, a NATO member and staunch supporter of Ukraine, shares a border with both the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Moscow's ally Belarus.
"If our allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons on our territory as part of nuclear sharing to strengthen NATO's eastern flank, we are ready to do so," Duda said in the interview published by the Fakt newspaper.
Duda spoke to Polish media after visiting New York, where he held meetings at the United Nations and discussed the war in Ukraine with former US President Donald Trump. In March, he visited Washington, where he met with US President Joe Biden.
Discussions on nuclear cooperation between Poland and the US have been going on "for some time", he said.
"I have already spoken about this several times. I must admit that when I was asked about it, I stated our readiness. Russia is increasingly militarizing Kaliningrad. Recently, it is moving its nuclear weapons to Belarus," the president added.
In June 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Russia had sent tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which borders Ukraine and Poland.
During the last NATO summit in Vilnius, the allies pledged to "take all necessary steps to ensure the reliability, effectiveness, safety and security of the nuclear deterrence mission". /BGNES
