Polish President Andrzej Duda has said there are no plans to reduce the number of U.S. troops stationed in Poland but called for European defense budgets to be beefed up to the same level when "Soviet imperialism" threatened the continent.
The Polish president was speaking as old certainties about Washington's role in ensuring European security have been upended by the Trump administration. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a press conference in Poland on February 12 that NATO allies could not assume that America would be present in Europe forever.
Duda’s comments came at the start of a meeting on Monday of Poland’s National Security Council (NSC), an advisory body to the head of state on internal and external security matters.
The council comprises government ministers and representatives of the main political parties, attending at the president's invitation.
The body met as momentum builds in Kyiv, Brussels, and Washington around Trump's attempt to jump-start peace negotiations to end the three-year-old Russian-Ukraine war.
"A lot is happening, numerous talks and consultations are taking place. I decided that this is the right time to convene the NSC to talk about the most important issues from the point of view of Polish security," said Duda, cited by Polish state news agency PAP.
Duda met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Saturday, and recently held talks with Keith Kellogg, Trump's Ukraine envoy, and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
He said: "It is clear from these conversations [with top U.S. policymakers] that Poland is an extremely important ally of the United States, which is absolutely perceived as an extremely important place on the map of strategic American interests and building security zones."
He added he did not believe the U.S. would downgrade its troop numbers stationed in Poland, which is a staunch ally of America and a fellow NATO member.
"Neither I nor – as far as I know – the Minister of National Defense... received any such message," he said.
Some 10,000 American military personnel are on rotation in Poland, according to the U.S. Department of State.
‘Just and lasting peace’
Duda said the Ukraine-Russian war "must end with a just and lasting peace."
"That is why strong and credible security guarantees are so important, which should be negotiated in the near future," he added.
Also commenting on Monday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X: "Why do all decent people stand by Ukraine today? Why do free nations today pay tribute to the heroes and victims of this inhuman war? Because this is a war in defense of us all: Ukraine, Poland, Europe and our values. Let no one try to question the very sense of this fight."
Duda compared today's Kremlin threat to the Cold War. European defense budgets would need to be beefed up to the same level when "Soviet imperialism" threatened Europe, he said.Why do all decent people stand by Ukraine today? Why do free nations today pay a tribute to the heroes and victims of this inhuman war? Because this is a war in defense of us all: Ukraine, Poland, Europe and our values. Let no-one try to question the very sense of this fight.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) February 24, 2025
“Today, in the face of the threat of Russian imperialism, building the military and defense potential of NATO countries is an obvious necessity," Poland's president told the NCS.
