—US to store heavy weapons in Poland under Nato plan
The US will take a decision soon to store heavy weapons including tanks and infantry fighting vehicles in Poland, the Polish defence minister says.
Tomasz Siemoniak said he had discussed such US military deployments last month with US Defence Secretary Ash Carter.
The US military has been conducting massive drills with Nato allies in Eastern Europe amid regional alarm over Russia’s role in the Ukraine conflict.
Russian officials said the plan could have “dangerous consequences”.
The three Baltic states also plan to store US heavy weapons, officials say.
The US has confirmed only that it is to send an armoured brigade of up to 250 vehicles, including tanks, to Germany to support its Nato allies.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter will decide in due course whether any of those vehicles will be deployed to other European countries.
“Decisions are near,” Mr Siemoniak tweeted (in Polish), confirming a New York Times report at the weekend that storage of US heavy weapons in Poland was being discussed.
Such pre-positioning of US armour on the territory of its ex-communist Nato allies would be a first since the Cold War ended.
It would not be an ad hoc measure, the minister said, but “for years and decades”.
Reports say up to 5,000 Nato troops could be equipped with the weapons set to be stored in eastern Europe. It would be in position for a Nato rapid reaction brigade, agreed at a Nato summit last year, which could deploy at short notice.
The White House and Mr Carter still have to approve the heavy weapons storage, and no precise locations have been named yet.
“This is another step towards building a greater US presence in Poland and the region,” Mr Siemoniak told the Polish news agency PAP.
