MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday said that any decision by the United States to deploy nuclear weapons in Poland would result in those weapons being considered “legitimate targets” in the event of a direct confrontation with NATO, AFP reported.
Zakharova’s statement came in response to remarks made by Polish President Andrzej Duda regarding Poland’s readiness to host American nuclear weapons on its territory, a move deemed “provocative” by the Russian spokesperson.
“Such provocative statements by the Polish leadership are not news. The Polish authorities have not hidden their ambitions to cling more tightly to the US nuclear weapons deployed in Europe and have been talking about it for a long time,” Zakharova said during a news conference in Moscow.
The spokeswoman highlighted that Polish officials consistently link the deployment of nuclear weapons with their “hostile policy towards Russia,” suggesting that any such action would immediately update Russia’s list of “legitimate targets” in a direct military confrontation with NATO.
Zakharova’s remarks underscored Russia’s firm stance against what it perceives as encroachments on its security interests, particularly in the context of NATO expansion and the potential deployment of US weapons near its borders.
Addressing another issue during the press conference, Zakharova criticized Switzerland’s decision to freeze $14.3 billion of Russian assets, including sovereign reserves of the Russian Central Bank. She denounced the move as “embezzlement, theft, banditry,” asserting that it grossly violates international law and principles of sovereign equality among states outlined in the UN Charter.
The Russian official warned of retaliatory measures, emphasizing that Russia will respond based on the principle of reciprocity. She noted that while the response may not necessarily be symmetrical, Moscow possesses various political and economic tools to counter unfriendly actions, which could have repercussions for countries like Switzerland if such measures persist.
