Mariusz Błaszczak made the statement after meeting his German counterpart Boris Pistorius on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The two defence ministers held talks at a Polish Army base in the southeastern Polish city of Zamość, according to officials.
Błaszczak and Pistorius discussed further support for Ukraine, the security situation amid Russia’s continuing aggression in Ukraine, Polish-German cooperation in the European Union and NATO, and collaboration between the arms industries of the two countries, reporters were told.
At a joint news conference afterwards, the Polish defence minister said: “We appreciate the presence in eastern Poland of the Patriot batteries supplied by Germany.”
Błaszczak added: “Poland plays an important role when it comes to support for Ukraine. All the deliveries of equipment to Ukraine are going through Poland. We are pleased that our air defences have been expanded.”
'Poland is interested in keeping German-supplied Patriot system'
He stated: “We have the US-provided Patriot batteries and the German-provided Patriot batteries. And so we have a system in place to guard these deliveries to Ukraine. This is important due to Russian threats.”
Błaszczak told reporters that Russia "had run a spy ring in Poland" to gather intelligence about arms supplies to Ukraine, before it was busted by Polish security services earlier this year.
The Polish defence minister also mentioned "Russia’s growing influence over Belarus, as evidenced by the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons" in that country, and "the security risk from the relocation of the Wagner Group mercenaries" to Belarus.
He stated: “Poland is interested in keeping the German-supplied Patriot system at least until the end of this year.”
Meanwhile, Germany’s Pistorius said his talks with Błaszczak had focused on “support for Ukraine’s defence against the brutal Russian aggression, which is still ongoing.”
The German defence minister stated: “We are both aware of our responsibility. We are at the forefront when it comes to supplying Ukraine with the Leopard tanks. Germany is providing the 2A6 variety and Poland the 2A4 version.”
Pistorius added: “We must keep up our support for Ukraine. Today it is more important than ever.”
He told reporters he and Błaszczak had agreed that ongoing Polish-German talks about the creation of a maintenance hub for Ukraine’s Leopard tanks in Poland “should be concluded within 10 days.”
German Patriots for Poland
Germany offered to provide a Patriot air defence system to Poland after a stray Ukrainian air-defence missile struck a village in southeastern Poland in November, killing two people, public broadcaster Polish Radio's IAR news agency reported.
It said Poland initially called for the weapons to be sent to Ukraine instead before it eventually accepted Berlin’s offer.
In January, a Patriot air defence system provided by Germany to bolster NATO’s eastern flank arrived in Poland to be stationed in the eastern Lubelskie province, some 60 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, news outlets reported at the time.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Monday is day 495 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, dw.com