US Negotiating Extended Nuclear Sharing Program in Europe, Polish Defense Minister Confirms

MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. Polish Defense Minister Wladysіaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has confirmed that the United States is negotiating with a number of European countries a potential extension of the Nuclear Sharing program.

"Naturally, [these talks] are being conducted at the NATO level. Defense ministers will hold a meeting at the [NATO] headquarters in Brussels on June 18. One of the topics will be nuclear deterrence capacities," he told the TVP Info television channel.

"I’d rather not dwell on this topic because this is a very sensitive issue. If any statements are to be made on the matter, they will be official NATO-level ones, not mere speculation," he added.

The Financial Times reported earlier, citing sources, that United States is considering deploying additional nuclear weapons in European countries to reassure their allies in the reliability of its security guarantees. According to the sources, Washington has signaled readiness to deploy its dual-capable aircraft (DCA) in additional European NATO countries.

NATO’s Nuclear Sharing program includes Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey and Great Britain, which may host US dual-capable aircraft (DCA). States in the North Atlantic Alliance’s eastern flank, including Poland and Baltic countries, have expressed an interest in joining the program. The sources told the FT that an agreement was not imminent though.