NATO Not Considering Nuclear Warhead Deployment to Additional Countries, Says Polish Official

MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/. NATO is not considering the deployment of nuclear warheads to additional countries as part of its Nuclear Sharing program, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Zalewski said.

"As of today, the deployment of nuclear warheads beyond the places already hosting them is not on the [NATO] agenda," he told RMF FM.

However, the Polish defense official clarified that Warsaw sought to participate in NATO’s nuclear deterrence concept and that it was one of the issues on the agenda. "For the first time, we have been able to make sure that NATO countries are willing to include Poland in the nuclear sharing program, which is a very serious one," Zalewski noted.

On August 27, Zalewski said at a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels that Poland had neither the desire nor plans to host nuclear weapons. He explained that Warsaw would like to be part of NATO’s nuclear deterrence strategy without having nuclear arms stationed in the country.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki said in an interview with Polsat television in mid-February that Warsaw should seek access to nuclear weapons. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, in turn, stressed that the authorities were not considering such an option. However, Prime Minister Donald Tusk spoke of the country’s interest in the "nuclear umbrella" project proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron.