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| Worried About Threat President Vladimir Putin, Poland Asks For US Nuclear Weapons |
International Military - Polish President Andrzej Duda said Warsaw had asked the United States for nuclear weapons. The request comes amid the NATO nation's concerns about the threat of atomic weapons use by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.
Duda said there was a potential opportunity for Poland to take part in "nuclear sharing", in which pilots from host countries 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. This issue is open," Duda told Gazeta Polska, as reported by The Guardian, Thursday (6/10/2022).
According to experts, the request from the Polish president is widely seen as symbolic, because moving American nuclear warheads closer to Russia would make them more vulnerable and less useful militarily. Meanwhile, the White House said it had not received such a request from Poland. "We were not aware this issue was raised and will refer you to the Polish government," a US administration official said.
Duda's announcement is the latest example of the threat of nuclear war breaking out as the US and its allies seek to prevent Putin from using nuclear weapons for the first time in combat since 1945. Duda's statement about his country being ready to become a US nuclear weapons base follows changes to the neighboring country's constitution; Belarus, which will allow Russia's nuclear weapons to be placed on its territory.
Just to note, transferring US nuclear weapons to Poland could be a violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act, after the end of the Cold War in which NATO declared it had no plans to deploy nuclear weapons in the territory of the new member. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) estimates the US has 100 nuclear weapons left in post-Cold War Europe.
All of them are spread in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Turkey. These are all B61 bombs that have been rendered militarily obsolete. Arms control experts have long demanded that all nuclear bombs be removed from Europe. However, the bombs are claimed to have been modernized to the B61-12, with fins that allow guided fall, which is expected to enter service this year.
The bombs have also been designed to be carried by the F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter, potentially making them part of the US active nuclear arsenal. Hans Kristensen, director of the FAS nuclear information project, said B61-12 storage sites in Europe were being upgraded and strengthened.