Poland is negotiating with the US to increase its military presence, says the Prime Minister

Washington. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Sunday that Poland is in talks with the Biden administration to increase the US military presence in his country as President Biden prepares to visit Poland this week to mark the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“We are in talks with the Biden administration to make their presence more permanent and increase them,” Morawiecki told Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan.

He also expressed gratitude for the weapons provided by the United States and reaffirmed the importance of NATO in deterring Russian aggression.

“I am also very grateful for the shipment of new Patriot systems and other very advanced weapons and ammunition. [the] the presence of soldiers, but of course both go in tandem,” Morawiecki said, referring to US initiatives to replenish equipment that Poland sent to Ukraine. “I also recall the words of President Biden last fall, from his last visit to Poland, when he said that every inch or square inch of the territory of a NATO country will be protected and Russia is not going to invade these countries.”

US troops sent to Poland for the first time in 2017 as part of NATO’s efforts to strengthen the alliance’s eastern front in response to Russia’s aggressive behavior in the region. Before the Russian invasion last year, several thousand reinforcements were brought into the country, and there are currently about 11,000 US troops in Poland on a rotational basis.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, NATO has increased its military presence throughout Europe. Last June, Mr. Biden announced that for the first time the United States was placing a permanent command in Poland. The standing force does not include combat units to comply with a 1997 agreement between Russia and NATO in which the alliance agreed to keep combat units out of Eastern Europe.

The White house announced Earlier this month, Mr. Biden will travel to Poland this week to discuss US-Polish cooperation and their collective efforts to support Ukraine and strengthen NATO.

“I expect there will be a very strong confirmation of our resilience and our joint efforts to defeat Russia in Ukraine,” Morawiecki said on Sunday. “Some Western European politicians say that Russia cannot win this war and Ukraine cannot be defeated. We must change this paradigm and we must say that Ukraine must win and Russia must be defeated. And I believe President Biden’s words will calm everything [of] Europe that the United States is with us in this fight for freedom and peace.”

Poland has been the main source of support for Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, hosting more than 1.5 million people. Ukrainian refugees And spend billions to provide housing, medical and other services. Poland borders both Ukraine and Belarus, where Russian troops were stationed before the conflict began, and could become the next country to be targeted by Vladimir Putin if Ukraine falls to Russia.

Last Monday, The President of Moldova accused Russia plans to ignite protests calling for the overthrow of its government in an attempt to destabilize the country. Moldova shares a border with Ukraine, and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Friday that the US is “deeply concerned” by Russia’s actions.

Asked if Poland saw evidence that Russia might be targeting other countries, including his country, Morawiecki replied: “Yes, I see a lot of fingerprints of Russian forces, Russian services in Moldova”, adding that “this very weak, very weak country.” and we all have to help them.”

Morawiecki also mentioned other Russian provocations that go beyond Ukraine.

“One of the missiles [the] The Ukrainian air defense system fell on the territory of Poland, people were killed. And that was a direct consequence of Russia’s rocket and missile strikes on Ukraine,” he said, referring to the November incident, which heightened fears of a NATO ally being involved in the fighting.

The prime minister also expressed hope that fighter jets would be delivered to Ukraine in the near future to help fight them.

“At the beginning of the war, there were many things that we could not imagine, and then, [the] the unimaginable became possible. So [it] it happened with tanks, so it was with the Patriot anti-aircraft, anti-missile, anti-missile system,” Morawiecki said.

Morawiecki also supported statement he spoke this week at the Munich Security Conference, where he expressed readiness to provide Ukraine with Soviet MiG fighters. The US agreed to send tanks to Ukraine last month but has so far resisted calls to send fighter jets.

“I believe that with fighters, in the end, there will be fighters from the West delivered to Ukraine. The position of Poland, we can do it, but only in combination with other allies in the United States,” Morawiecki said.

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