This assessment was made by the Atlantic Council’s Diane Francis on Saturday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
‘Poland is the >unsung hero< behind move to send tanks to Ukraine’
In an article for the Atlantic Council’s website, Francis, who is also Editor-at-Large of Canada’s National Post newspaper, wrote: “Germany and the United States have recently made headlines by deciding to send tanks to Ukraine. However, the unsung hero behind this landmark decision was actually Poland."
The Atlantic Council author added: “Polish leaders were instrumental in efforts to persuade Berlin in particular of the need to provide Ukraine with modern tanks.”
‘The latest example of Polish leadership’
Francis noted that “This was the latest example of Polish leadership over the past year as Europe has found itself confronted by the continent’s largest armed conflict since World War II.”
The Atlantic Council author added that “Poland’s leading role in the European response to Putin’s invasion reflects the country’s extensive experience of Russian imperialism in both its Czarist and Soviet forms.”
In fact, “Ever since Poland joined the European Union in 2004, politicians in Warsaw have been warning Europe of the growing threat posed by a resurgent and revisionist Russia,” Diane Francis stressed.
Weapons for Ukraine
Last week, Germany and the United States, as well as Poland, among other Western countries, announced that they would provide modern tanks to help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion.
Germany agreed to allow partner countries to re-export German-made tanks to Ukraine.
It came after weeks of diplomatic pressure on Germany, notably by Poland, to supply main battle tanks to Ukraine and allow partners to support Kyiv with some of their own German-made tanks.
Meanwhile, there have been reports that military officials had begun pushing the US Department of Defense to approve sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to help the country defend itself from Russian missile and drone attacks.
On Sunday night, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Western allies to speed up the delivery of weapons to his country, warning that the Russian army was launching constant attacks in the eastern Donetsk region.
Monday is day 341 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, atlanticcouncil.org