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Polish president, NATO chief discuss eastern flank security

18.12.2025 16:30
Polish President Karol Nawrocki met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Warsaw on Thursday to discuss security along the alliance's eastern flank amid Russia’s ongoing war against neighbouring Ukraine, officials said.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki (right) and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte (left) meet in Warsaw on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki (right) and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte (left) meet in Warsaw on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.Photo: Mikołaj Bujak/KPRP

The talks focused on NATO’s military posture in the region, including the presence of allied forces and efforts by member states to boost defence spending, the Polish President's Office said.

Allies have agreed to work toward raising defence outlays to 5 percent of GDP.

Nawrocki and Rutte also discussed NATO missions such as Baltic Sentry and Operation Eastern Sentry, as well as diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, reporters were told.

The meeting came ahead of Nawrocki’s planned talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Warsaw on Friday.

Rutte later travelled to Bemowo Piskie near the town of Orzysz in northeastern Poland to meet with troops from NATO’s multinational battlegroup stationed there.

He was accompanied by Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.

The battlegroup includes troops from the United States, Britain, Romania and Croatia and operates alongside Poland's 15th Mechanised Brigade as part of NATO’s enhanced forward presence on its eastern flank, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

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Source: IAR, PAP, president.pl