Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined European leaders in Vilnius on Thursday for the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) summit.
Leaders from a dozen Central European states, including Poland, the Czech Republic, and Romania, are attending, with the war in Ukraine prominent on the agenda.
Zelenskyy met with several leaders for bilateral meetings beforehand and signed another security agreement with Latvia, committing to spending at least 0.25% GDP over 10 years on cyber defense, demining, and unmanned technologies.
Ukraine also plans to sign a bilateral security agreement with Lithuania.
Poland’s air defense
During a conference following the summit, the Polish president was asked whether he had considered making Poland’s Patriot system available to Ukraine.
“We are just starting the building of that system in Poland; that system is not yet ready in Poland,” he replied. “Today, Poland has nothing yet to give.”
Duda admitted that Patriot batteries were present in Poland but that “they are systems that were deployed in Poland by the United States Army and the British army.”
He pointed out that Russian missiles had breached Polish airspace and that as such, “we find ourselves in a situation of threat of a potential Russian attack.”
However, Duda said, Poland may consider handing some of its Soviet-era rockets to Ukraine.
He said he had held a discussion with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “about a certain stockpile of rockets dating back to the Soviet era, which Poland now has at its disposal.”
Zelenskyy met with several leaders for bilateral meetings beforehand and signed another security agreement with Latvia, committing to spending at least 0.25% GDP over 10 years on cyber defense, demining, and unmanned technologies.
Ukraine also plans to sign a bilateral security agreement with Lithuania.
Poland’s air defense
During a conference following the summit, the Polish president was asked whether he had considered making Poland’s Patriot system available to Ukraine.
“We are just starting the building of that system in Poland; that system is not yet ready in Poland,” he replied. “Today, Poland has nothing yet to give.”
Duda admitted that Patriot batteries were present in Poland but that “they are systems that were deployed in Poland by the United States Army and the British army.”
He pointed out that Russian missiles had breached Polish airspace and that as such, “we find ourselves in a situation of threat of a potential Russian attack.”
However, Duda said, Poland may consider handing some of its Soviet-era rockets to Ukraine.
He said he had held a discussion with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “about a certain stockpile of rockets dating back to the Soviet era, which Poland now has at its disposal.”
Source: TVP World, Reuters, PAP
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