President Joe Biden met with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday in Poland ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The two leaders, seated at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, spoke about U.S.-Polish bilateral relations and their joint commitment to Ukraine and NATO.
“The United States needs Poland and NATO as much as Poland and NATO need the United States,” Biden said. “I would argue a year later that NATO is stronger than it’s ever been.”
Duda thanked Biden for traveling to Ukraine on Monday, calling it a “very strategic and very political move” that “boosted the morale” of the defenders of the Ukrainians. The president made an unannounced trip to Kyiv and travelled in secret for 10 hours via train to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the capital.
US President Joe Biden (3L) is welcomed by Polish President Andrzej Duda for talks at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw on February 21, 2023. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden visiting Poland is a “sign that the free world had not forgotten,” and a “visible sign that Poland is safe and secure” despite Russia’s war on Ukraine being miles away. (RELATED: Inside Look Into Crossing The Border To War-Torn Ukraine)
Poland has been a leading contributor of military aid to Ukraine and has accepted nearly 10 million Ukrainians across its border amid the refugee crisis. Biden spoke with Duda in March on his first trip to Poland after the war, and also visited U.S. troops stationed in the country.
During this trip, Biden thanked Duda for accepting so many refugees, expressed optimism for working together on future challenges, and highlighted plans to build nuclear power plants in Poland to secure energy outside of Russia.
Biden is slated to deliver remarks about Ukraine in Warsaw, and visit with U.S. embassy staff, leaders of the Bucharest Nine, NATO allies, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg before heading back to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.