U.S. President Joe Biden hosted Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk for a joint meeting at the White House on Tuesday, amid concerns that the U.S. Congress is deadlocked over extra funding to support Poland’s neighbor Ukraine in its fight against Moscow’s invasion.
The meeting comes as the U.S. government prepares a new military aid package for Ukraine, which Reuters first reported on Tuesday. The program could be worth as much as $400 million, including funds returned to the Pentagon for near-term acquisitions.
Warsaw also seeks to increase NATO troop presence on the alliance’s eastern flank. Biden told reporters on Monday that “additional troops are not needed” on the Polish border but said he would discuss the matter today.
The meeting coincided with the 25th anniversary of Poland’s admission to NATO on March 12, 1999. Ahead of the visit, Duda urged other alliance members to increase defense spending to 3% of GDP, citing Russian aggression.
“The war in Ukraine has made it clear that the United States is and should continue to play a leading role in European and world security issues,” Duda said in a speech to his country on Monday. “However, other NATO countries must also assume greater responsibility for the security of the entire Alliance and significantly modernize and strengthen their military forces.”
Poland’s defense contribution accounts for 3.9% of GDP, almost double NATO’s current target of 2% and the highest percentage of GDP of any country. The United States is the second-largest contributor in percentage terms, accounting for 3.5% of GDP, but is by far the largest contributor within NATO in total dollar terms.
Duda’s proposal underscores the anxiety felt by Poland and other countries on NATO’s eastern flank, which are most threatened by Moscow’s aggression, at a time when some countries in the alliance’s west are pushing for a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine.
However, Michal Baranowski, managing director of the German Marshall Fund GMF East, a US research organization, said this goal was only “ideal” and was unlikely to be adopted soon because NATO Many countries within the country have not even reached the 2% GDP target.
in a review article Washington postDuda highlighted the alarming level of militarization in Russia, with Moscow spending nearly 30% of its annual budget on military spending. He highlighted the threat posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling it the most significant challenge to global peace since the Cold War era.
Meet with congressional leaders
Ahead of the White House meeting, Duda and Tusk met with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders to push for passage of a Senate-approved foreign aid package that includes $60 billion in aid to Ukraine. Democrats and the White House are confident the bill will pass the House, but Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to bring it to a vote.
Baranowski told VOA that getting Poland’s leader to convey the message to lawmakers that Washington needs to be a responsible ally is key, but it is unlikely to be the final push to break the deadlock in the House. Many Republican lawmakers are allies of Donald Trump, supporting the former president’s opposition to foreign aid unless it is structured as a loan.
Earlier this week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Hungary’s state news channel that Trump would not spend “one penny” to support Ukraine “so the war will end.” Orban made the remarks after meeting with Trump last week.
Asked for confirmation, the Trump campaign said the former president’s “first priority” in his second term would be “a swiftly negotiated end to the Russia-Ukraine war” and that “European countries should pay more “. The cost of conflict. “
“He will take the actions necessary to restore peace and reestablish American strength and deterrence on the world stage, and he is the only one who can make that happen,” campaign communications director Steven Cheung told Us Voice of China said in a statement.
Trump’s comments further heightened European anxieties about the United States’ commitment to the alliance, especially if there is a change of government after the U.S. presidential election in November.
Last month, Republican presidential candidate Trump said he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever it wants” if NATO countries don’t spend enough on defense.
Before NATO summit in Washington
According to the White House, the two leaders will strengthen the U.S.-Polish partnership and coordinate strategies ahead of the NATO 75th Anniversary Summit in Washington in July.
For Warsaw, the focus is on ensuring that the regional defense plan agreed at the 2023 Vilnius NATO summit is “not only well planned, but actually equipped with troops to provide the level of deterrence and defense required on NATO’s eastern flank,” Baranov Ski said.
The last time a Polish president and prime minister visited Washington at the same time was in 1999, when President Alexander Kwasniewski and Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek attended the NATO 50th Anniversary Summit.
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