Polish Foreign Minister Says US Will Strike Russian Troops in Ukraine If Russia Uses Nuclear Weapons

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in an interview published May 25 that the United States had told Russia that if it used nuclear weapons, it would retaliate with conventional weapons against Russian forces in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated nuclear threats against Ukraine and the West since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. The threats have not materialized and Russia continues to wage its all-out war without its nuclear arsenal.

“The Americans told the Russians that if you detonate a nuclear bomb, even if it doesn't kill anyone, we will hit all your targets (positions) in Ukraine with conventional weapons, we will destroy them all,” Sikorski said. Guardian.

Sikorski added that China and India have warned Russia not to use nuclear weapons.

“And it's not child's play, because if this taboo (on the use of nuclear weapons) were also to be broken, like that of not changing borders by force, China knows that Japan and Korea (South) would go for nuclear weapons, and they probably don't. “I don't want that.”

Sikorski also said he supported ending restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western weapons to strike targets in Russia, echoing similar comments made recently by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg , US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and prominent US lawmakers.

While Poland increased its military spending to 4% of GDP, Sikorski said there was still work to do and many other European countries had not yet caught up.

Before Russia's full-scale war, Poland primarily focused its defense spending on advanced weapons technology, Sikorski said.

“We are only beginning to rediscover that in reality, you only need millions of shells. You also need large quantities of low-tech products.”

“It is clear that Europe is lagging behind and that the EU's military, technological and industrial base is suffering from years of underinvestment,” he added.