WARSAW (Reuters) – The U.S. presence in Poland and Central Europe should be boosted, Polish President Andrzej Duda told U.S. President Donald Trump during a short meeting in Washington on Saturday.
“President Trump said he would rather expect a boost of U.S. presence concerning Poland,” Duda told reporters after the meeting.
“I said Poland’s and Central Europe’s security should be boosted, but he said that as one of the most credible allies I should not be worried.”
Duda declined to comment on whether he discussed the recent sharp exchange between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, adding that his impression was that the U.S. president was interested in “making Ukraine stronger, including via economic ties.”
Trump denounced Zelenskiy as a “dictator” on Wednesday and warned that the Ukrainian president had to move quickly to secure peace with Russia, which invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago, or risk losing his country.
The change in tone from the U.S., Ukraine’s most important backer, has alarmed European officials and stoked fears that Kyiv could be forced into a peace deal that favors Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump reaffirmed close alliance between U.S. and Poland and praised Warsaw’s commitment to increase defense spending, the White House said on X on Saturday following the meeting.
(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Paul Simao)
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