US Vice President J.D. Vance has said he would be “shocked” if President Donald Trump supported the idea of American nuclear weapons being based in Poland.
In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Vance was asked about Warsaw’s proposal to host US strategic missiles on its territory as a “deterrent against future Russian aggression.”
“I haven’t talked to the president about that particular issue, but I would be shocked if he was supportive of nuclear weapons extending further east into Europe,” Vance said.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has called on Washington to move some of its nuclear arsenal stored in Western Europe or the US to Poland, claiming on Thursday that he had discussed the idea with Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, according to the Financial Times.
The Polish president reportedly made a similar request to the Joe Biden administration in 2022, but it was never approved.
Vance argued that while “people like Joe Biden” are “sleepily walking us into the nuclear conflict,” allowing Russians and Ukrainians to “bleed out,” Trump has engaged in “tough diplomacy,” enlisting his entire administration to settle the Ukraine conflict.
Polish officials are reportedly calling for militarization to address the alleged threat posed by Moscow. Prime Minister Donald Tusk claimed earlier this month that Russia could launch a “full-scale operation” against a “larger” target than Ukraine within three to four years – which Moscow has repeatedly dismissed. Tusk argued that Poland must serve as a “bastion” to protect NATO’s eastern flank and should expand its military capabilities and double the size of its army to 500,000.
Russia has consistently denied allegations that it poses a military threat to European NATO nations. President Vladimir Putin has dismissed such claims as “nonsense,” accusing EU leaders of using them to instill fear among their populations and justify increased military spending.
Calls for higher defense budgets within the EU, however, align with Trump’s push for European NATO members to take greater responsibility for their own security. At the same time, the US president has criticized the idea of an arms race and suggested that nuclear powers should get rid of their atomic arsenals.
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