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'US-Poland relationship is critical for our two nations': Biden

27.02.2023 08:00
US President Joe Biden has reiterated that his country's relationship with Poland is "critical" for the two nations, especially in the face of Russia's war in Ukraine.
Polish President Andrzej Duda (right) and US President Joe Biden (left) meet in Warsaw on Tuesday, February 21, 2023.
Polish President Andrzej Duda (right) and US President Joe Biden (left) meet in Warsaw on Tuesday, February 21, 2023.Photo: Jakub Szymczuk/KPRP

"The United States-Poland relationship is critical for our two nations, especially at this global inflection point," Biden said in a tweet at the weekend.

He posted a video recounting his visit to Warsaw last week.

Biden visited Poland last week for bilateral talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda. He also delivered a major address outside Warsaw’s Royal Castle and met with leaders from nine NATO eastern-flank countries in the Polish capital.

Biden told the nine eastern-flank NATO allies last Wednesday that Article 5 of the alliance's collective defence treaty "is a sacred commitment” and that America "will defend literally every inch of NATO."

In a major speech in Warsaw on February 21, Biden vowed that America and its allies "will not tire" of supporting Ukraine and that "Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia."

'One of our great allies'

In his speech, Biden hailed Poland as “one of our great allies," praising its embrace of refugees from Ukraine and its key role in the West’s united response to Russian aggression, The New York Times has noted.

“Thank you, Poland,” Biden said in Warsaw last week. "Thank you, thank you, thank you for what you’re doing."

During his visit, Biden praised America's relationship with Poland, saying that Warsaw was a critical NATO ally for Washington as Moscow waged war against Kyiv.

"The United States needs Poland and NATO as much as NATO needs the United States," Biden said during a meeting with Poland's Duda at the presidential palace in Warsaw last Tuesday.

He reassured Polish leaders that NATO's "pledge of security" was an "ironclad commitment" amid Russia's war in neighbouring Ukraine.

Hub for Western arms deliveries, shelter for refugees

Poland has become a hub for Western weapons flowing into Ukraine, a shelter for millions of Ukrainian refugees and a driving force behind European sanctions against Russia, The New York Times has reported.

“It is quite visible that the center of gravity has moved here to Poland and other countries in Central Europe,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told the paper in an interview last week.

“I see that we are being listened to more and more on what is going on around us,” Morawiecki added. “I see that on the security challenge we are understood in a better way.”

Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau told reporters in New York on Friday that his country was leading the way internationally in providing military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Monday is day 369 of Russia’war in Ukraine.

More than 10 million people have crossed into Poland from Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbour on February 24, 2022, the Polish Border Guard agency reported on Monday.

A deputy prime minister said in December that Poland was home to more than 2 million Ukrainians after many who had fled Russia's invasion moved on to other countries or decided to return to Ukraine.

In March last year, Poland enacted a measure to offer wide-ranging support to Ukrainians escaping the Russian invasion of their country.

The measure grants them residence rights and ensures access to educationhealthcare and social benefits.

Seventy-eight percent of Poles are in favour of accepting refugees from war-torn Ukraine, according to a survey published this month.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, TVP Info, nytimes.com