Poland’s Duda to push Biden on increasing US presence in country amid Russia threat: diplomat

Polish President Andrzej Duda is expected this week to press President Biden during his Warsaw visit to increase the number of permanent U.S. troops in nations along Russia’s borders, a top diplomat in the U.S. told Fox News Digital.

Biden’s visit comes after Monday’s surprise trip to Ukraine, where he met with President Zelenskyy. All this happening just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, and Poland is looking for a little acknowledgment for the role it has played in aiding Ukraine. 

“I think one of the purposes of President Biden’s visit to Poland is actually to…emphasize support, U.S. support to Poland,” Adrian Kubicki, Poland’s Consul General in New York said. “[It] is also important that President Biden listens to what we have to say in terms of how to enhance our security.”

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Poland has been a top provider in defensive and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, alongside the U.S., since the war began. 

Warsaw has not only taken in the greatest number of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war-torn nation, but it has also led NATO negotiations to push for newer and faster equipment deliveries to Ukraine, including tanks earlier this year. 

Nearly a dozen nations have pledged tanks for Kyiv, and Poland is now working with allied nations to review whether warplanes could be next on the defensive aid itinerary. 

However, Kubicki pointed out that Poland, as well as all Baltic nations near Russia and Ukraine, are under threat from Russian aggression. 

“We would like to see an increased presence, permanent presence, of U.S. troops right at the doorstep of the ongoing war – which is Poland,” he said. “U.S. troops should be present permanently in our countries given the situation…and what could potentially happen in the future if Russia is, God forbid, successful in Ukraine.”

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Russia has threatened to push its aggression beyond Ukraine’s borders since the war began, setting its sights on Moldova, which is west of Ukraine and where a contingent of Russian sympathizers remain in an area known as Transnistria.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that Kyiv had thwarted a Russian plot to overthrow the Moldovan government – a claim the Moldovan government confirmed – which reignited concerns regarding Moscow’s overall aggression towards Europe. 

Kubicki said that Poland believes Russia is incapable of overthrowing Kyiv as Russian President Vladimir Putin originally intended, or of invading another European nation. However, he warned that Moscow is playing the long game.

“Putin has time,” he said. “We know long term – Poland actually learned the hard way through our history – that this ambition…[is] still valid. It doesn’t have to happen immediately.

“If we do not put a full stop [to] this outrageous invasion of Ukraine, we are 100 percent certain that eventually Putin will attempt to invade other countries,” Kubicki warned.