Poland is ready to join the nuclear exchange program among NATO countries as soon as possible — because of nuclear weapons in Belarus

Poland is ready to join the nuclear exchange program among NATO countries as soon as possible against the background of the fact that Russia is going to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced this on July 30 after the EU summit.

"In connection with the fact that Russia intends to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, we ask the entire NATO bloc to participate in the Nuclear Sharing program," said Mateusz Moravetskyi.

He confirmed that Warsaw is interested in participating in the program. The final decision will depend on the US and NATO partners.

"We are declaring our readiness to act quickly on this. We donʼt want to sit idly by while Putin makes all kinds of threats," added Moravetskyi.

Nuclear Sharing is a NATO program that is part of nuclear deterrence. It provides nuclear warheads to member states that do not possess nuclear weapons of their own. Since November 2009, as part of the Nuclear Sharing program, American nuclear weapons have been in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey.

• On May 25, the defense ministers of Belarus and Russia, Viktor Khrenin and Serhiy Shoigu, signed documents on the placement of non-strategic nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory. So, Russia will place tactical nuclear weapons in a special storage facility in Belarus and only it will be able to control them.
• On June 14, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Oleksandr Lukashenko, announced that his country had begun receiving Russian tactical nuclear weapons. And he assured that some samples are three times more powerful than the atomic bombs that the USA dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
• On June 20, the head of Ukrainian intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said that preparations for the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons are still ongoing in Belarus, and the warheads have not yet been transported.