Andrzej Duda issued the warning at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The president told a media briefing: “I am confident that assistance will continue to be provided to Ukraine. However, I would like to stress that we must expect a Russian offensive … and to repel it, Ukraine needs very urgent shipments of modern equipment, Ukraine needs to have its troops trained. It needs to have them prepared to use this equipment. Such are the requirements of the moment.”
Duda noted that his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky made a similar appeal during his speech to the Davos summit on Wednesday.
‘We must ensure our citizens feel safe’
The Polish head of state also emphasised the need to protect his country’s security amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine, the PAP news agency reported.
Duda said: “We, Polish politicians, consider it our utmost duty to ensure that our citizens feel safe and we are working towards it all the time, calling on allies to provide support, which is being met with understanding.”
He added: “Hopefully NATO’s forthcoming summit in Vilnius will also respond to this situation.”
The president stressed that “deterrence and defence” was needed to protect NATO and its eastern flank, according to PAP.
He told the media: “And so NATO forces are necessary in our part of Europe. Today Russia’s conduct is clear for everyone to see. Russia is being aggressive. NATO forces must be stationed here, all the commitments made at the NATO summit in Madrid must be fulfilled.”
Duda also said that Poland was "spending more than its fair share" on defence, with "security expenditures likely to reach 4 percent of GDP” this year.
He noted that Poland was buying tanks, aircraft and artillery rocket systems from the United States and South Korea.
“We are expecting the first batch of the US HIMARS advanced rocket systems to arrive soon,” the president said.
He added: “Here in Davos, Poland is regarded as a leader in terms of a serious approach to security issues.”
The 2023 World Economic Forum, attended by decision makers including the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin, runs until Friday.
Thursday is day 330 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, wpolityce.pl