– President Andrzej Duda arrived in London on Thursday for a one-day working visit. He will speak with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about assistance to Ukraine and military cooperation.
Yakub Kumoch, head of the president’s foreign policy bureau, said the visit was the result of a phone call between the two leaders last week initiated by Prime Minister Johnson. “Poland and Great Britain are Ukraine’s biggest friends in NATO,” he said.
According to the program of the visit, Prime Minister Johnson will meet President Dudu at 13:30 local time at the head of the British government in Downing Street, after which politicians will make statements to the media. Later, Andrzej Duda and Boris Johnson will talk face-to-face; Plenary speeches of the delegation are also planned.
The head of the National Security Bureau, Pavel Solokh, said that the main topic of the meeting would be the war in Ukraine and cooperation in helping this country. He pointed out that the UK, right after the US, is the leading country in the field of direct assistance to Ukraine, and also takes a firm stance towards Russia. “And this is what brings us closer,” he assured us.
Military cooperation
According to the head of the National Security Bureau, President Andrzej Duda will also talk with the British Prime Minister about military cooperation. – We are talking about the possible construction of frigates under the Swordsman program, about the Narev air defense system. And here negotiations and cooperation have advanced far, – Solokh stressed. “Naturally, given what is happening to the east of our borders, we would like to speed up these programs,” he added.
For his part, Yakub Kumoch, head of the presidential foreign policy bureau, said earlier that the main topic of the meeting in London was the form and method of providing assistance to Ukraine. – Poland and Great Britain are one of Ukraine’s biggest friends in NATO, the minister said.
European Security
He stressed that the visit was the result of a telephone conversation between the two leaders last week at the initiative of Prime Minister Johnson. “The Russian aggression against Ukraine has clearly shown how close the positions of Poland and Great Britain are on issues related to security in Europe,” he stressed.
At the beginning of the week, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss visited Poland and thanked Poland for the support provided to Ukrainian refugees. According to her, “Poland has always clearly seen the issue of Russia and Putin’s intentions.” “You were right,” she said. She pointed out that Russian forces are being transferred to the south-east of Ukraine, so it is necessary to provide the Ukrainians with the necessary resources for defense.
The British minister also spoke about the need to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank. “We are sending more British forces into Poland and along NATO’s eastern flank because we need to reinforce it,” she said.