Andrzej Duda made the declaration at a joint news conference with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Lithuania’s Gitanas Nausėda in Kyiv on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The presidents of Poland and Lithuania on Wednesday visited Ukraine to mark the country’s Constitution Day and talk about preparations for a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12, according to officials.
A day earlier, Duda and Nausėda took part in a working dinner of NATO heads of state and government in The Hague, the Netherlands, to discuss preparations for the Vilnius summit, the PAP news agency reported.
‘Clear pathway to membership’
After holding talks with his Ukrainian and Lithuanian counterparts, the Polish president said at a joint news conference: “Poland and Lithuania deeply believe that NATO’s July summit will make decisions, and we are taking all measures to ensure that it happens, that the summit strengthens the security of our part of Europe, and gives Ukraine a clear pathway to membership, because we deeply believe that the security of Ukraine also means the security of us all.”
Duda also told reporters that bolstering NATO’s presence on the eastern flank was in the best interests of all the countries of the region.
He said: “These are our collective interests, making sure that NATO is as strong as possible in our part of Europe and that in the near future Ukraine also becomes a full-fledged member of the alliance, one of the NATO armies covered by Article 5 of the NATO Treaty on collective defence.”
The Polish president added: “We’ll be taking all steps to ensure that this happens as soon as possible.”
'Independent, free and proud country'
Duda also said that, despite Russia’s continuing aggression, Ukraine remained “an independent, free and proud country.”
He told reporters: “Ukraine is sovereign, Ukraine is independent, Ukraine is free and proud, and so it will remain. Because Ukraine will win despite Russian aggression, despite war, despite having been assaulted 18 months ago by a much stronger enemy, unexpectedly, for no reason, without any justification, out of a sheer will to enslave Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.”
The Polish president paid tribute to "the defiance of the Ukrainians in the face of the Russian invasion," saying: “Ukrainian society said no, everyone joined the heroic effort to defend the homeland, and they are still defending their homeland today.”
He added: “In part thanks to our support, the Ukrainians are not only repelling Russian aggression, but driving the enemy out of their land.”
Zelensky thanks Poland, Lithuania for support
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Zelensky thanked Poland and Lithuania for their “very valuable humanitarian and defence support” for his country, as well as for welcoming refugees from Ukraine, the PAP news agency reported.
He stated: “I thank Poland and Lithuania, our most important allies, for their assistance.”
Referring to the upcoming NATO summit, Zelensky declared: “NATO’s summit in Vilnius will represent an opportunity to offer Ukraine a clear pathway to the membership of the alliance. We would like to hear that after the war Ukraine will become a NATO member and we would also like Ukraine to receive security guarantees for the period preceding accession to NATO.”
Poland urges NATO response to Wagner's move to Belarus, nuclear deployment
The Polish president also spoke to reporters about the movement of Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries to Belarus, following their aborted mutiny in Russia on Saturday.
Duda said that the relocation of the Wagner fighters, coupled with an earlier deployment of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus, “essentially changed the security architecture in our region.”
The Polish president added: “This issue must be carefully considered by NATO. I will press for NATO to make concrete decisions in this matter.”
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Wednesday is day 490 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, prezydent.pl, president.gov.ua
