Poland’s President Urges US to Station Nuclear Weapons in Polish Territory

The country joined NATO in 1999 and has been among the highest defense spenders in Europe.

Polish President Andrzej Duda addresses a press conference following his talks with the U.S. defense secretary at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw on Feb. 14, 2025. Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images

Polish President Andrzej Duda has urged the United States to transfer nuclear weapons currently based in Western Europe to Polish territory to deter future aggression by Russia.

Duda said he had discussed the idea recently with Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

“The borders of NATO moved east in 1999, so 26 years later there should also be a shift of the NATO infrastructure east,” Duda said in an interview with The Financial Times, published on March 13. “For me this is obvious. I think it’s not only that the time has come, but that it would be safer if those weapons were already here.”

Duda said it was “obvious” Trump could redeploy nuclear warheads to Poland.

His comments come as U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff heads to Russia to discuss a temporary cease-fire proposal from Ukraine with the Kremlin.

“We urge the Russians to sign on to this plan,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on March 12. “This is the closest we have been to peace in this war. We are at the 10th-yard line, and the president expects the Russians to help us run this into the end zone.”

Russia ‘Didn’t Ask Permission’

Poland borders Ukraine and Belarus, a close ally of Moscow. In June 2023, 16 months after the start of the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin moved nuclear weapons to Belarus. He said they would act as “an element of deterrence” to all powers who are “thinking about inflicting a strategic defeat.”

Duda told The Financial Times, “Russia did not even hesitate when they were relocating their nuclear weapons into Belarus. They didn’t ask anyone’s permission.”

Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the Baltic states—Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia—joined in 2004, and in recent years these four countries have been among the highest spenders on defense in the alliance.

NATO’s collective defense clause, which requires all members to defend any ally under attack, has been invoked only once: after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

The nonprofit Center For Arms Control and Non-Proliferation states on its website that U.S. nuclear weapons are based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and the Netherlands.

Duda has been Poland’s president—a largely ceremonial role in that country—since 2015. The position is term-limited and he is due to step down in August, following fresh elections in May.

In 2022, he discussed the idea of hosting nuclear warheads with the previous U.S. administration.

Duda, a nominee of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, has been at loggerheads with the center-left coalition of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk since that coalition formed a government following parliamentary elections in 2023.

Tusk last week welcomed remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that appeared to offer France’s nuclear umbrella to allies in Eastern Europe.

Tusk said Poland was “talking seriously with the French about their idea of ​​a nuclear umbrella over Europe.”

Duda Rules out Polish Nuclear Arsenal

In the interview, Duda rejected any suggestion Poland could build a nuclear arsenal.

“In order to have our own nuclear capability, I think it would take decades,” he said. “Concerns regarding the U.S. taking back their military presence from Poland are not justified. We are a credible ally for the U.S. and they also have their own strategic interests here.”

He also backed Trump’s stance on the Russia–Ukraine conflict.

“This is not delicate diplomacy, this is a tough game, but in my opinion it’s not that President Trump is being only nice and gentle with Russia,” Duda said. “I think he’s applying instruments against Russia, even though it’s maybe not as loud and visible as those he’s using against Ukraine. Nobody has managed so far to stop this war, so let’s give President Trump a chance.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.