Michael Evans

The problem with putting US nukes in Poland

The first thermonuclear test on 31 October 1952 (photograph on display in the Bradbury Science museum)

Nukes are becoming a big issue for Poland. One way or another, both the Polish president and prime minister want their country to host tactical nuclear weapons as a deterrent against President Putin’s Russia.

In the latest, but by no means the first, statement on this question, President Andrzej Duda has revealed he recently discussed locating American tactical nukes in Poland with Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Duda said: ‘I think it’s not only that the time has come but that it would be safer if those weapons were already here.’

At the same time, Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister and former president of the European Council, has indicated an interest in Poland developing its own nuclear weapons as well as building an army of half a million soldiers to stand up to potential Russian aggression in the future.

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Written by
Michael Evans

Michael Evans was defence editor at the Times for 12 years. He still writes regularly about defence and security for the paper. He wrote a memoir called First with the News.

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