Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says his country wants to join NATO's nuclear weapon sharing program. This is in direct response to Russia's deployment of some of its own nuclear weapons to neighboring Belarus. This also comes as Poland is pushing ahead with a massive conventional rearmament effort that was accelerated in the wake of the all-out Russian invasion of Ukraine last year.
Prime Minister Morawiecki made his remarks about Poland's desire to become of NATO's nuclear weapon sharing arrangements in response to a question at a press conference on the sidelines of a European Union in Brussels, Belgium, earlier today.
"The final decision will depend on our American and NATO partners. We declare our will to act quickly in this matter," Morawiecki said, according to Polesat News. "We do not want to sit idly by while [Russian President Vladimir] Putin escalates all sorts of threats."
Putin said earlier this month that Russian nuclear weapons had begun to arrive in Belarus as part of an agreement the two countries cut last summer. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said earlier this week that a " significant" portion of the total number of nuclear munitions that Russia plans to place in his nation have now arrived. Per previous statements from Putin and Lukashenko, these weapons are a mixture of nuclear-capable Iskander-M short-range ballistic missiles and air-dropped nuclear bombs, the latter of which the Belarusian Air Force now claims to be capable of employing.
This is not the first time Polish authorities have publicly stated their interest in joining the NATO nuclear weapon sharing program in light of Russia's decision to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus.
"There is always a potential opportunity to participate in the nuclear sharing program," Polish President Andrzej Duda said in October. "We have spoken with American leaders about whether the United States is considering such a possibility. The issue is open."
That same month, NATO conducted the annual iteration of its nuclear deterrence exercise, Steadfast Noon, which includes practicing putting the alliance's nuclear weapon sharing plans into action. The Polish military took part in that exercise, but in a supporting role rather than as one of the members that would be actually employing nuclear munitions.
