Poland will strive to enlarge its armed forces to 500,000 servicemen and work to obtain nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in an address to the Polish parliament on March 7.

Tusk delivered his speech in the wake of a flurry of activity in Europe following US President Donald Trump’s abruptly ending of military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine. The Trump administration’s subsequent hints of a “reset” in Washington’s relations with Russia further has fuelled worries that the US is readying to leave Europe to take care of its own defence against a newly emboldened Russia.

“We must reach for the most modern solutions related to nuclear weapons and the most modern conventional weapons," Tusk told Parliament.

It was not clear if Tusk meant Poland should develop its own nuclear deterrence or – as he said moments earlier – Poland was about to “talk seriously to the French about [their] idea of nuclear umbrella.”

“It is time to look at the latest battlefield technologies more boldly. Conventional means are no longer enough,” Tusk added.

Tusk dropped the verbal A-bomb at the very end of his speech, which he mostly devoted to interpreting Trump’s line on Russia-Ukraine war.

“We are witnessing a major shift in US policy on the war in Ukraine,” Tusk said, adding that “we cannot be offended by [this] reality.”

Instead, the PM said, Poland should assess the situation clearly and know what serves its interest best.

According to Tusk, despite Trump’s lack of predictability, the alliance with the US remains the pillar of Poland’s security, alongside its position in Europe. But, Tusk added, “it is not easy to agree the two now.”

Bordering Russia’s ally Belarus, war-torn Ukraine, and Russia that is “[readying for] a full-scale war in three to four years,” Poland needs to step up the thorough modernisation of its armed forces, including by training all adult men in a system similar to Switzerland’s, Tusk said.

That could give Poland an army of 500,000 servicemen in a time of conflict, consisting of professional troops and well-trained reservists, Tusk said.

But Poland’s future depends greatly on where Ukraine will stand following Trump’s onslaught against it, apparently hand in hand with Russia.

“If Ukraine loses the war or accepts peace, a truce, or capitulation on terms that weaken its sovereignty and make it easier for Putin to gain control over Ukraine, then without question – and we will all agree on this – Poland will find itself in a much more difficult geopolitical situation," Tusk said.

Tusk also mooted Poland’s pulling out from the international conventions banning anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions.

“These are not nice things but the problem is that those who we are afraid of all have them,” Tusk said.

The prime minister said that to meet the plan he outlined Poland should strive to maintain the level of defence expenditure at 5% of GDP next year and in the coming years.

“It will pay off strategically. Not just in the coming few years but in the perspective of decades to come,” Tusk said.