Poland's Mateusz Morawiecki urged NATO allies to provide Kyiv with security guarantees during a brief visit to Canada, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Morawiecki and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed bilateral relations, Russia's war against Ukraine, and the security of Poland and the entire eastern flank of NATO, according to officials.
While in Canada on Friday, Morawiecki also held talks with energy executives and visited a site near Toronto that will host the world’s first small modular reactor (SMR), slated for completion in 2028, the PAP news agency reported.
The technology will be brought to Poland in cooperation with a Canadian company, it said.
Ukraine deserves security guarantees, 'path to NATO membership': Polish PM
At a joint news conference, Morawiecki and Trudeau were asked about their expectations for the upcoming summit of the NATO alliance, due to take place on July 11-12 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The Polish prime minister said his country would advocate for giving Ukraine "a path for NATO membership."
He stated: “Poland pushes for Ukraine’s relatively quick accession to NATO.”
Morawiecki added: “We realise that not all NATO allies share this view, so we would like to have an opportunity to discuss ways to give Ukraine a path for NATO membership.”
He said such a roadmap would also "serve as a means to persuade the unconvinced.”
The Polish prime minister told reporters that “Ukraine is defending not just its own territorial integrity, but also the integrity and stability of Europe.”
Morawiecki added: “And so Ukraine deserves to have strong security guarantees, based on solidarity. I am convinced that this topic will be discussed during the Vilnius summit.”
Morawiecki told the media that Poland was “at the forefront” of military support for Ukraine, while also providing humanitarian aid and hosting "2 million Ukrainians."
He added that Poland was pushing for further sanctions against Russia, while lawmakers were processing a bill to seize Russian assets and use them to “help fund the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
'Concrete steps'
The Polish prime minister said he was grateful to Canada's Trudeau for "concrete steps" in areas such as "energy, humanitarian aid and economic cooperation.”
Morawiecki said: “Democratic countries must have a technological advantage over non-democratic regimes. Only in this way can we ensure world peace.”
He hailed "close cooperation" between Poland and Canada "in the energy sector,” saying that Polish company Orlen Synthos Green Energy "works closely with a Canadian company that builds small modular nuclear reactors.”
Poland, Canada working together to support Ukraine: Canadian PM
Meanwhile, Canada’s Trudeau said that his country and Poland were working together to ensure that Ukraine has whatever support it needs to fight the Russian invasion, the PAP news agency reported.
He added that Russia must not be allowed to redraw the map of Europe.
“We are defending our value system,” he stated, as quoted by the PAP news agency.
Trudeau confirmed that Canadian instructors were helping train Ukrainian troops on Leopard tanks in Poland, while Polish troops were part of a Canada-led multinational NATO battlegroup stationed in Latvia.
He hailed Poland's role as a reliable NATO ally and Canada's largest trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe, the PAP news agency reported.
Trudeau later tweeted: “Sat down with Poland’s Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, this morning. Our agenda included the Russian regime’s invasion of Ukraine and our support for Ukrainian refugees – as well as energy security, trade, and other economic opportunities. Mateusz, let’s keep working together.”
Friday was day 464 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, pm.gc.ca, polskieradio24.pl
Click on the audio player above to listen to a report by Radio Poland's Agnieszka Bielawska.