Polish diplomat fears Russia's reaction if Warsaw allows NATO to place nuclear weapons
(Baonghean.vn) - Diplomat Andrzej Szejna emphasized that Warsaw should consider participating in the program if such a need arises for the security structure of the NATO alliance.
Russia's TASS news agency reported on May 13 that Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna told RMF24 Radio that Poland could become a target of Russian missiles if it deployed US nuclear warheads on its territory under NATO's nuclear sharing program.
“While Poland will not become a nuclear power by placing NATO nuclear weapons on its territory, Russian missiles will target these facilities,” the Polish diplomat noted.
He stressed that Poland “will not chase” its NATO allies to convince them to accept Warsaw into the joint nuclear weapons program. Szejna stressed that Warsaw should consider joining the program if such a need arose in the alliance’s security architecture.
Previously, on April 22, Polish President Andrzej Duda said in an interview with Fakt that Warsaw had repeatedly discussed with the US the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons in Poland under NATO's nuclear sharing program and expressed readiness to do so if necessary.
Commenting on President Duda's remarks, the republic's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that such issues were up to the government to decide, while the Polish Foreign Ministry said the cabinet had not yet discussed the issue.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that US nuclear weapons would immediately attract the attention of the Russian General Staff and would be taken into account in military planning if they were deployed in Poland.
