A signal to Trump and Putin. France and Poland to sign a large-scale agreement on May 9

France and Poland are set to sign a wide-ranging agreement covering defense and economic issues in the latest move by European countries to deepen military ties amid the Russian threat and uncertainty over U.S. security guarantees. This was reported by the newspaper Financial Times .

The treaty will be signed on May 9 by French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The agreement, which has been many years in the making, has taken on new significance after US President Donald Trump's statements about Russia and threats to withdraw US guarantees that have been the basis of European security for decades.

"Tusk also sends a message to Washington, our main ally for many years. This is a clear signal that Poland is not only dependent on the US, but can also have other strong nuclear allies," said Aleksander Olech, a security analyst at the Polish think tank Defence24.

The FT recalled that Tusk recently said Poland was open to exploring ways to come under France's nuclear umbrella. An unnamed French official told reporters that Macron and Tusk are unlikely to reach an agreement on nuclear deterrence when they meet to sign the treaty in Nancy, northeastern France.

The agreement will cover a wide range of topics and will give Poland a similar treaty to those that already unite France and its neighbors Germany, Italy, and Spain. France also has narrower defense-oriented treaties with the United Kingdom, among others.

Earlier this week, Tusk said the treaty would lead to a "very serious acceleration" of economic and military security on the continent. In the economic sphere, France hopes to play a bigger role in Poland's energy transition away from coal, which still accounts for most of its electricity production.

The French official added that the treaty also demonstrates how Paris perceives Warsaw as an increasingly important partner amid Russia's war against Ukraine.

In this way, France and Poland will update a bilateral agreement from 1991. It was signed shortly after Poland emerged from communist rule and a few years before it joined NATO and then the European Union.

"The goal is to deepen and operationalize key elements of the Franco-Polish relationship, including threat assessments, joint defense projects, and expanded discussion on strategic issues, including nuclear deterrence," the French official said .

In addition, under the new agreement, France will increase sales of military equipment to Poland.

"Macron is now talking about the need to buy European, but everyone understands that his priority is to sell French [equipment] to Poland and other EU partners," said a former Polish defense official.

• on February 25, The Telegraph wrote that France is ready to use its nuclear deterrent to protect Europe.
• On March 7, Tusk said, that Poland should respond to the new US administration's "deep adjustment" of its defense priorities.
• The Polish prime minister made it clear that Warsaw may seek access to nuclear weapons, given the threat from Russia in the coming years.