After Polish President Nawrocki’s meeting with U.S. President Trump at the White House, a journalist asked if the two leaders had discussed Russian President Putin and if the Polish president had made his negative opinion of him clear.
Despite not making any such statement during the public portion of the meeting, Nawrocki said he spoke privately with Trump regarding the matter.
“Let me be clear: I do not trust Vladimir Putin. Poland has had negative experiences with the Russian Federation, Do Rzeczy quotes him as saying.
He further added that both subsequent sanctions packages and support for Ukraine are not only the position of Poland but of all of Europe, “regardless of the differences within the EU, regardless of the differences between me and the government in Poland.”
“I guarantee that I spoke clearly about security issues, even at a closed meeting, about how I see Vladimir Putin and what a threat he is to the free world,” Nawrocki added.
On the topic of increased American troops on the ground in Poland, the Polish president said that starting tomorrow, the U.S. secretary of defense and the head of the Polish National Security Bureau will be preparing solutions “that will be good for Poland, but it’s too early to talk about them.”
“The process has begun. I see a serious opportunity to implement a permanent U.S. military presence. This cooperation also concerns a major project that lies ahead for us and the United States. These talks have moved towards a permanent presence and projects that, I hope, will soon lead to the implementation of new projects for Polish defense,” he said.
Ukraine’s NATO membership did not come up. However, the latest IBRiS poll for “Rzeczpospolita” shows that the majority of Poles oppose Ukraine’s accession to NATO, with 52.7 percent of respondents opposed and 33.5 percent in favor. Another 13.8 percent have no opinion. In August 2023, 47.7 percent were opposed to it.
Those primarily against Ukraine joining NATO are men (64 percent), people over 50 (61 percent), rural residents (62 percent), and those with lower education (71 percent). Meanwhile, 74 percent of voters of opposition parties – particularly PiS and Confederation – are opposed.
