And Russia is not afraid of NATO nukes nearby, that’s propaganda bullshit, to cover up imperial conquests. Nobody had ideas about deploying nukes in Eastern Europe before Russia invaded Ukraine. Now Poland wants to host them.
Discussion
Poland further away. Belarus and Ukraine serve as a buffer zone much same as NK for China. No way Russia will allow nukes in Ukraine
Poland has border with Russia (Kaliningrad, which is main base for Russian Baltic Sea fleet). Belarus is relatively small, that distance would change minutes for short range tactical nuclear missiles (nobody talks about strategic nukes here). And Poland is already closer to second biggest Russian city Saint Petersburg than Ukraine.