Warsaw, Poland — Poland’s President Andrzej Duda again called on the United States to deploy nuclear weapons to Poland as a deterrent to Russia, the latest indication that the frontline NATO nation is increasingly considering nuclear protection as fears of Russia grow.
Duda made his appeal in an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, repeating an appeal he made to the Biden administration in 2022.
Duda’s adviser for international affairs, Wojciech Kolarski, followed up on Duda’s appeal with an interview on Poland’s RMF FM radio Thursday morning in which he argued that nuclear protection would improve security for Poland, a NATO member along the alliance’s eastern flank that shares borders with Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian territory of Kaliningrad.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Duda’s, said last week that Poland was in talks with France concerning President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to use France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats
. Moscow called that idea “extremely confrontational.”
Tusk made his comment to parliament after Macron said he has decided to open a “strategic debate” on using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect European allies amid concerns over potential U.S. disengagement. The French president described Moscow as a “threat to France and Europe” in a televised address to the nation.
France is the only nuclear power in the European Union.
Macron met with President Trump
in the White House late last month, a session Mr. Trump called “an important step” in ending the war between Russia and Ukraine
, as his return to the White House indicated a likely tipping point in American support — and a possible rift with France and other European allies.
As Mr. Trump returned to the Oval Office in January, Macron told his European counterparts to “wake up” and spend more on the continent’s defense to reduce its reliance on the United States for security.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his team arrived in Moscow
for meetings on the proposed 30-day ceasefire plan for Ukraine
, a person familiar with the situation told CBS News. Russian outlets are also reporting his arrival.
