A nuclear power play is unfolding in NATO’s East. After watching Russia rehearse nuclear strikes on his country and station nuclear weapons in Belarus, Polish president Andrzej Duda urged the United States last week to deploy nuclear arms to Poland to deter Russian aggression. It is an idea whose time has come. The Trump administration should act swiftly to accept Duda’s proposal.
The idea of a nuclear-armed Poland isn’t radical—it’s overdue. NATO already operates a nuclear-sharing program that allows select allies to host U.S. tactical nuclear bombs under American control. Reserved for America’s closest and most capable partners, this program strengthens deterrence without violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Poland is an ideal candidate for NATO’s nuclear-sharing program. It spends 4.7 percent of its GDP on defense and has built one of Europe’s strongest militaries. Duda’s proposal would give Poland access—only under U.S. authorization—to some of America’s B-61 nuclear bombs, the backbone of NATO’s tactical deterrent.
These are not Cold War relics. The B-61 is a sophisticated weapon designed for battlefield use. It can deliver anything from a precision strike to the destruction of a mid-sized city.
Currently, these bombs are stationed in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Turkey—some of which are far less vulnerable than Poland. If NATO truly wants to deter Russian aggression, it must shift its deterrent eastward.
Poland feels the immediacy of the Russian threat, and history is an unforgiving schoolmaster. In 1939, Poland believed it had an ironclad military alliance with France and Britain. When Hitler invaded, French troops stood idle behind the Maginot Line. The UK promised “all support in their power,” but sent none.
Ukraine learned a similar lesson with devastating consequences. In 1994, Kyiv surrendered the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees under the Budapest Memorandum. Without nuclear weapons*,* we will have nothing to deter Russia*,* Ukraine’s leaders warned at the time. The Clinton administration dismissed them. When Russia invaded in 2014 and escalated in 2022, those promises proved worthless. Today, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are dead.
By hosting NATO’s tactical deterrent, Poland aims to ensure that America will fully honor its security commitment should its survival ever be threatened.
Critics have long dismissed a nuclear Poland. They were wrong before. They are even more wrong now.
Ten years ago, I debated Kingston Reif of the Arms Control Association, who argued that proposals like Duda’s were unnecessary because Russia did “not pose an imminent threat to NATO.” He also insisted America’s nuclear arsenal was a Cold War relic. Reif and others wanted to eliminate these weapons—not share them with allies.
The problem is that real-world conditions have changed. Military analysts—from Danish intelligence to NATO’s Supreme Allied Command—estimate that Russia could be capable of invading a NATO member like Poland within the next decade. That gives the West little time to prepare. Every delay increases the risk of Russian aggression.
What’s more, Putin escalated first. He stationed nuclear weapons in Belarus in 2023 and has publicly rehearsed nuclear strikes on Poland for over a decade. Warsaw has noticed, prompting them to recall the Cold War question: Would the United States trade Boston for Bonn?
Instead of debating hypotheticals, Poland is taking action—ensuring NATO’s deterrence is real, credible, and available when it matters. Washington should welcome this development.
Some immediate steps for Washington and Warsaw are clear. First, sign a U.S.-Poland agreement to add Warsaw to NATO’s nuclear-sharing program. Second, identify and secure a Polish facility to store B-61 nuclear weapons at NATO standards. Third, certify Polish pilots and aircraft—including F-35s—to carry out deterrence missions.
Other allies have done the same. Poland would simply be the latest addition to this exclusive club.
Opponents might cry provocation. But deterrence is not provocation—it is prevention. Russia has already shown its hand—invading Ukraine, menacing the Baltics, and practicing nuclear strikes on Poland. NATO’s response must match Moscow’s actions, not its words. Russia escalated first by placing nuclear weapons in Belarus. The West didn’t start this chess game—Putin did. If deterrence means anything, NATO must answer in kind.
President Trump already sees Poland as NATO’s model ally. “Poland has really stepped up and done a great job for NATO,” he said recently. “They pay more than they had to…Poland is in a tough neighborhood.”
He’s right.
Poland faces a greater security threat than the Netherlands or Belgium, both of which host U.S. nuclear weapons. Unlike Germany, which has long pushed to remove American nuclear arms from its soil, Poland has proven itself a reliable NATO ally and is willing to host them. Expanding the nuclear-sharing program to Warsaw would send a clear message to Putin: any attack on Poland would be a catastrophic mistake.
The Trump administration should embrace Duda’s proposal and move fast. Putin won’t wait for the West to debate itself into paralysis. The time for hesitation is over.
Peter Doran is an adjunct senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.