Poland’s president calls for more US support for Ukraine – and more military spending from NATO. Romanian President Iohannis wants to become Secretary General of NATO

“Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has clearly demonstrated that the United States plays and must continue to play the leading role in security,” Duda said at the White House on Tuesday. But other allies should also take more responsibility for the security of the defense alliance. “That is why I believe it is necessary for all NATO countries to increase their defense spending from two to three percent of gross domestic product.”

The current target is two percent. Duda said this would have been appropriate a decade ago. But now more is needed, given the all-out war Russia has started behind NATO’s eastern border.

Poland itself spent 3.9 percent of its gross domestic product on armaments last year. The country feels threatened by Russia and is currently rearming itself en masse. It is one of Ukraine’s most devoted political and military supporters. In addition to Duda, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also took part in the meeting on Tuesday.

Biden again called on Congress to release billions in urgently needed aid for Ukraine. “We must act before it is too late,” he said in a brief statement. Russia will not stop with Ukraine, but will endanger Europe, the US and the entire free world. Republicans in the US House of Representatives are blocking further aid to Ukraine, which Biden had already requested from parliament in October. There is currently no long-term solution in sight.

Duda said after the meeting that the Polish delegation told Biden how they assessed the situation in Ukraine and the situation on the front and how “fundamentally important” US aid to Ukraine was. Tusk spoke of an “impressive consensus of opinion” with the Americans. It was a “serious conversation at a serious time.” Biden said he was optimistic the impasse could be broken. The official reason for the two politicians’ visit was the 25th anniversary of Poland’s accession to NATO. The NATO summit will take place in Washington this summer.

After the meeting, Duda wanted to travel to the US state of Georgia to tour the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, which is based on technology from the Westinghouse Group. The American nuclear power plant manufacturer was ordered to build the first nuclear power plant in Poland in November 2022. It is to be built northwest of Gdansk on the Baltic Sea. Poland wants to build six nuclear power plants by 2043. In addition to Westinghouse, companies from South Korea and France are also trying to win orders. (sda/dpa)