Paweł Kowal, chairman of Poland's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, met with nine senators and six House representatives from both parties, he told reporters on Thursday.
He said the proposed American defence budget bill – the NDAA – currently requires the US European commander to report on options for permanent troop deployment in Europe, and that he raised the issue in every meeting.
"We have many friends in Congress," Kowal said, adding that parliamentary work requires patience and repetition.
He described the current moment for Poland in Washington as "absolutely extraordinary," saying Poland was cited at every meeting as a model of economic development, low inflation and high defence spending.
On the earlier Pentagon freeze of a US brigade rotation in Poland, Kowal said there no longer appeared to be "any appetite" to reduce troop numbers, and that there was now room to discuss upgrading the presence from rotational to permanent.
He said it remained unclear what final form President Donald Trump's announcement of "an additional 5,000 troops" for Poland would take.
Kowal welcomed the Polish defence minister's pledge to formally request a permanent US base, and pushed back on suggestions of rivalry between the government and president on security policy, saying both were "moving in the same direction."
He also confirmed that Washington think tanks have revived discussion of expanding Poland's role in NATO's nuclear sharing arrangements, but declined to give details.
On the naming of a Ukrainian military unit after after the fighters of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) – a deeply sensitive issue in Poland – Kowal said he opposed the decision but cautioned against inflaming Polish-Ukrainian relations.
"It is wiser to give time to those working on a solution," he said.
(ał/gs)
Source: PAP
Click on the audio player above for a report by Michał Owczarek.