Former Russian President Speaks Out on Poland's Nuclear Weapons Deployment Proposal

In a comment on Telegram network at the request of TASS news agency on July 1, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that a nuclear war could break out if the US responded to Poland's request to place nuclear weapons in this Eastern European country.

This was the first reaction of a Russian official to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's call for NATO to include Warsaw in the military bloc's Nuclear Sharing Program.

The former Russian president said that for those in power like Prime Minister Morawiecki in Warsaw, the presence of nuclear weapons in the country means they "will be used".

Speaking to reporters in Brussels on July 31, Prime Minister Morawiecki said: "Given Russia's intention to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, we hope that NATO will allow us to participate in the Nuclear Sharing Program."

Launched in 2009, NATO's Nuclear Sharing Program has seen US B-61 nuclear bombs deployed to various locations across Europe.

Moscow and Minsk first revealed they were in talks about deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus in March, with the deal finalized in May.

In mid-June, President Putin told his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko that preparations would be completed by early July with a number of nuclear warheads ready. Explaining its decision, Moscow argued that deploying tactical nuclear weapons would be no different from what the United States has done for decades by keeping parts of its nuclear arsenal in non-nuclear states such as Türkiye, Belgium or Italy.

According to Tin Tuc Newspaper