By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2025-03-09 22:50:08 | Updated at 2025-03-10 05:01:25
6 hours ago
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has slammed Europe’s “cowardice” to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin as his nation looks to arm itself with nuclear weapons to avoid the same fate as Ukraine.
Tusk said the current situation in Europe, which is scrambling to react to President Trump’s decision to halt military aid and intelligence to Ukraine, would not have happened if the union took harsher actions against Russia.
“Our deficit has been the lack of the will to act, having no confidence, and sometimes even cowardice,” Tusk told his parliament on Friday, adding that Moscow would have been rendered “helpless against a united Europe.”
The premier has called on Europe to accept that US aid may not be returning to Ukraine under the Trump administration, and that it’s up to them to act now before it’s too late.
To that effect, Tusk said his nation must be ready to fight in the event of a Russian invasion, with Poland currently in serious talks to gain some of France’s nuclear arsenal for protection.
“Poland must pursue the most advanced capabilities, including nuclear and modern unconventional weapons,” Tusk said in a statement. “This is a serious race — a race for security, not for war.”
The premier stressed that nuclear weapons were needed to maintain sovereignty as he pointed out that Ukraine, which gave up its nuclear arsenal in 1994 as part of a peace deal, is now being invaded by Russia regardless of past promises.
Tusk added that Poland will be building an armed force of more than 500,000 soldiers as he called for a plan to make sure every man in the nation undergoes military training.
Poland’s army currently stands at more than 200,000 fighters, making it the third-largest in NATO after the US and Turkey.
“We are preparing large-scale military training for every adult man in Poland,” Tusk said. “Our goal is to finalize the plan by year’s end to ensure a well-trained reserve force ready for potential threats.”
Tusk also warned that Poland would begin taking steps to withdraw from international treaties banning the use of certain bombs and munitions in order to bolster its weapons stockpile.
The prime minister, however, said he was still committed to keeping a close relationship with the US, where Poland buys the bulk of its weapons from.
Trump’s latest policies have put a strain on the relationship, with Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski recently clashing with Elon Musk on X over fears that the SpaceX CEO would pull his Starlink satellite network from Ukraine.
“Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year,” Sikorski posted on X.
“The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers,” he added.
Musk replied by calling Sikorski a “small man,” claiming Poland only pays a “tiny fraction of the cost” and that there are “no substitutes for Starlink.”
Following the public spat, Musk reaffirmed that “Starlink will never turn off its terminals” to Ukraine.
