Biden to meet Poland’s leaders on Nato funding against Russia
- The meeting comes as Biden presses to overcome Republican hardliners in Congress who are stalling US$95 billion for Ukraine weaponry and aid to Israel
- Polish President Andrzej Duda set the stage for talks by calling for each Nato ally to increase defence spending from 2 per cent to 3 per cent of GDP
“The leaders will reaffirm their unwavering support for Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s brutal war of conquest,” the White House said, noting the three leaders will coordinate ahead of the annual Nato summit, to be held July 9 to 11 in Washington.
Speaking before the talks, Polish Foreign Minister Radislaw Sikorski urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to allow a vote on the Ukraine funds, but toned down an earlier plea in which he said Johnson would be blamed if the bill failed and Russian troops advanced.
“If the American package doesn’t arrive … Ukraine might be in difficulty, and that might eventually mean the need for more American troops in Europe,” he told reporters at a Monitor breakfast.
Sikorski also appealed to Johnson’s Baptist faith, saying that Russia “persecutes religious minorities, including Baptists” in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
A White House official said the three leaders would celebrate the 25th anniversary of Poland joining Nato and will discuss “deepening our defence relationship which has grown closer over the past two years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”.
“A return to the status quo ante is not possible. Russia’s imperialistic ambitions and aggressive revisionism are pushing Moscow toward a direct confrontation with Nato, with the West and, ultimately, with the whole free world,” Duda wrote.
“He will not give a penny into the Ukraine-Russia war and therefore the war will end,” Orban told state television late on Sunday. “As it is obvious that Ukraine on its own cannot stand on its feet.”