Poland says it has asked to have US nuclear weapons based on its territory, amid growing fears that Vladimir Putin could resort to using nuclear arms in Ukraine to stave off a rout of his invading army.
The request from the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, is widely seen as symbolic, as moving nuclear warheads closer to Russia would make them more vulnerable and less militarily useful, according to experts. Furthermore, the White House has said it had not received such a request.
“We’re not aware of this issue being raised and would refer you to the government of Poland,” a US official said. Duda’s announcement appears to be the latest example of nuclear signaling as the US and its allies seek to deter Putin from the first nuclear use in battle since 1945 while preparing potential responses if deterrence fails that would have a maximum punitive impact while containing the risk of escalation to all-out nuclear war.
Previous war games conducted by US administrations have shown that is a fine, and fuzzy, line to tread, given the uncertainty over Putin’s state of mind, and his record of giant miscalculations over Ukraine. Duda’s remarks on basing nuclear weapons followed changes in the constitution of neighboring Belarus that would allow Russian nuclear weapons to be based on its territory.
The Polish president said there was “a potential opportunity” for Poland to take part in “nuclear sharing”, by which pilots from the host country are trained to fly missions carrying US nuclear bombs, which are stored on their territory. “We have spoken with American leaders about whether the United States is considering such a possibility. The issue is open,” Duda told Gazeta Polska.
Moving US nuclear weapons into Poland could be a violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Nato-Russia Founding Act in 1997, after the end of the Cold War in which Nato stated it had no plan to deploy nuclear weapons on the territory of new members. Russia has however violated its own commitments under – although of course important if you note the 1997 agreement, also important to note that Russia has flagrantly violated its commitments under the Act. Nuclear experts also added it made little strategic sense for Poland or Nato.
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) estimates the US has 100 nuclear weapons left over in Europe in the aftermath of the cold war, spread among the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Turkey. They are all B61 bombs that had been seen as militarily obsolete with no mission in the event of a war with Russia. Arms control experts have long called for them to be removed from Europe. (SOURCE)
