Polish President says Poland will continue to support Ukraine, but it is “not necessary” to deploy troops
Pravda Ukraine
Polish President Andrzej Duda has reaffirmed his readiness to continue supporting Ukraine but stressed that it is not necessary to involve Polish troops.
Source: European Pravda with reference to Duda’s interview with the Financial Times
Details: In an interview with the newspaper, Duda echoed Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s scepticism about sending troops to Ukraine as part of a Western force deployed to enforce any peace agreement.
He said that Poland “constantly helps” Ukraine by supplying weapons and serving as a logistics centre for military and humanitarian aid.
At the same time, in his opinion, Poland is “the most exposed to potential Russian attacks”.
Quote: “We are going to help Ukraine also in the future because it is necessary. We do not necessarily have to deploy our troops there,” he said.
Duda also believes that if the administration of US President Donald Trump invites other states to the negotiating table, in addition to Ukraine and Russia, “it would be in the interest of Ukraine to have Poland also there.”
Quote: “If we look at that reborn Russian imperialism, in this particular case, Polish and Ukrainian interests are convergent,” the Polish president concluded.
Background:
- On 22 January, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Bloomberg News that any effective peacekeeping force must include US troops, as Europe’s military support alone would not be enough to deter Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.
- He also said that at least 200,000 troops should be deployed on Ukrainian territory as part of a peacekeeping mission.
- Recently, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has confirmed that London is prepared to play its “full part” in potential peacekeeping operations in Ukraine, although he sees no immediate prospect of such a mission at the moment.
- At the same time, Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz ruled out sending peacekeepers to Ukraine after the war with Russia, explaining that “there should be more burden-sharing and diversification within NATO.”
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