MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. The US missile defense base in Redzikowo, northern Poland, may be used for defending the country and its allies from Russia, among other things, Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told the TVN24 television channel on Thursday.
"It will defend Poland," the minister said, answering to the host’s question. "At first, it was aimed against Iran and North Korea. However, the blacklist has been expanded, and now also includes Russia."
At the same time, the official evaded a direct question of whether the facility is capable of protecting Poland from Russian missiles.
"It offers protection against specific types of missiles. The system will be very versatile, that’s all I can say," he said.
On October 11, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski mentioned an agreement with the US for the Redzikowo base to "shoot down Russian missiles flying toward Poland, not only Iranian missiles flying toward the US."
The opening ceremony of the Redzikowo missile defense base took place on November 11, and was attended by Polish President Andrzej Duda, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz. The US was represented by Admiral Stuart Munsch, commander of US naval forces in Europe and Africa; and Ambassador to Warsaw Mark Brzezinski.
The Redzikowo base is the first permanent US military base in Poland.
It hosts an Aegis Ashore system and is part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach program for the deployment of missile defense components in Europe. The program also includes Aegis radar-equipped ships based in Rota, Spain, an AN/TPY-2 radar station in Turkey (on combat duty since 2011), and another Aegis Ashore site at the Deveselu base in Romania.
Construction of the Redzikowo site began in 2016. According to publicly available sources, it cost the US $850 million. Initially, it was planned to put the base into operation in 2018, but the construction was delayed. The site wasn’t ready to operate until December 2023. The process of its transfer to NATO followed. At the NATO summit in Washington in July 2024, the alliance announced full operational readiness of the Aegis Ashore system in Poland.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the advance of US military infrastructure in Europe towards Russian borders was "nothing but an attempt to contain our military potential." "Of course, this requires the adoption of appropriate measures to maintain parity," the spokesman added.