No decision yet to host nuclear weapons, says Polish president

ATHENS

No decision has been made yet to host nuclear weapons on Poland’s soil, said the country’s president on Sunday.

Speaking to Canadian broadcaster CTV, Andrzej Duda said: "I don't know anything about such decisions, so responsibly speaking I am saying there are no such decisions in place, but we are declaring our readiness."

“Because we can see that Russia is dangerous again, that Russia is deploying its nuclear weapons westward,” he added.

Against this background, NATO’s security should be consolidated by moving important defense installations to Eastern European members of the alliance.

However, Duda noted that the eventual decision on the matter will be made jointly by NATO allies, which is not the case for the time being.

"There are no decisions in this regard. I want to deny all the claims that some decisions have been made on this one. I have not participated in making any decisions,” he said.

Last week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that should the US decide to deploy nuclear weapons in Poland, Moscow would consider them "legitimate targets" in the event of a direct confrontation with NATO.

NATO’s nuclear sharing arrangements aim at ensuring that the benefits, responsibilities and risks of nuclear deterrence are shared across the alliance.

Since November, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Türkiye have hosted B-61 nuclear weapons provided by the US as part of the arrangements.