Donald Tusk made the statement just a day after calling for an arms race against Russia

Poland should pursue the acquisition of nuclear weapons, possibly through participation in France's nuclear umbrella initiative, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said.

On Friday, Tusk told the Polish parliament that the country needs to access advanced military capabilities to bolster national defense.

His remarks come after French President Emmanuel Macron proposed earlier this week extending France's nuclear deterrent to other EU members in order to address the supposed "threat" posed by Russia.

According to Tusk, Warsaw is already having "serious discussions" with Paris about the nuclear umbrella idea.

"Poland needs to pursue the most modern capabilities related to nuclear weapons as well as modern unconventional weapons," he stated. Warsaw does not care about being criticized over its military buildup and will take whatever steps it deems necessary to strengthen its defense, the prime minister declared.

Tusk also called for Poland to withdraw from international treaties banning anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions. If enacted, this would allow the Polish military to reintroduce such weapons into its arsenal, despite widespread international opposition to their use.

On Wednesday, Tusk urged the EU to ramp up military spending in order to outpace Moscow in an arms race, suggesting on X that "Russia will lose it like the Soviet Union 40 years ago." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also recently called for a significant increase in EU defense spending, further reinforcing the trend toward military expansion.

Moscow has vehemently condemned Tusk's recent statements, stressing that Russia will not engage in any sort of arms race. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that the "confrontational, even militaristic" rhetoric coming out of Paris and Warsaw was regrettable.

READ MORE: Kremlin responds to Trumps call for nuclear disarmament

Russia has repeatedly rejected claims that it poses a military threat to any European countries. President Vladimir Putin has dismissed such suggestions as "nonsense" being perpetuated by EU leaders to scare their populations and justify larger military budgets.

Calls for more defense spending in the EU come as US President Donald Trump has urged European NATO members to play a larger role in ensuring their own defense. At the same time, he has also criticized the idea of an arms race and suggested that all countries should completely get rid of their nuclear weapons.

(RT.com)