NATO Defence Ministers met at the NATO office in Brussels. The talks dominated the issue of raising defence spending. Poland was modeled by US Secretary of defence Pete Hegseth. “Poland will support the US’s determination to increase Europe’s safety spending,” announced Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
A contact group to support Ukraine was held in Brussels. It was attended by NATO defence ministers, the head of the Ukrainian MON and the US Secretary of Defense.
– I had the chance to talk to the fresh U.S. Secretary of Defense. On Friday he will be visiting Poland with his first authoritative visit – announced Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamish. The head of the MON stressed that during today's gathering Pete Hegseth pointed out Poland as an example of a country that, in terms of defence spending, is heading towards president Donald Trump, which is approaching 5% of GDP. “This is an absolute evidence of all NATO countries, of all European countries,” Kosiniak-Kamish said.
Film: Anita Blinkiewicz, Paweł Sobkowicz /ZbrojnaTV
He recalled that the leadership in the contact group was taken over by the British, but the presence of the American secretary and his engagement in the discussion gave a strong political signal that support for Ukraine would continue. The Deputy Prime Minister announced on the forum that Poland is preparing another – 46 aid package for a neighbour who has been defending himself against Russian aggression for almost 3 years.
One of the main topics of the discussion in Brussels was besides Pete Hegsteh's message that the US does not see Ukraine's NATO membership as part of a possible peace plan. Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamish asked about the words of the head of the Pentagon, admitted: – Ukraine has not received an invitation to NATO so far and I think that after the message of the American side of this invitation there will be no if there is no agreement of the most crucial state in the Alliance.
Kosiniak-Kamysz stressed that Ukraine's ambitions must be supported, but as he recalled, Ukraine's membership in NATO was besides opposed to another States of the Alliance. The Deputy Prime Minister besides referred to Hegseth's words that the United States would not send troops to Ukraine, but that compliance with the safety guarantees should, in his opinion, defender "European and non-European forces". We don't anticipate to send troops to Ukraine. The best mission will be the mission of American, Polish and European companies in Ukraine. This is the biggest safety guarantee," commented Władysław Kosiniak-Kamish.
On the subject of cooperation between the Polish and Ukrainian arms industry, the head of the MON besides spoke with the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Rust Umerov. “We anticipate Polish investments to be in Ukraine, that we will participate in reconstruction, and now in the construction of joint initiatives of the arms industries,” said Kosiniak-Kamysz, reminding that Poland was the first country to supply assistance to the attacked neighbour. Deputy Prime Minister announced that he would visit Ukraine in March with a group of entrepreneurs representing the state and private arms industry. Cooperation agreements will then be signed. The subject of the visit will besides be issues concerning orders, due to the fact that as the Deputy Prime Minister announced, Ukrainians besides want to buy Polish military equipment.
Władysław Kosiniak-Kamish held a series of meetings in Brussels today. With the ministers of the E5 Group, i.e. Germany, large Britain, France and Italy, he talked about further increases in defence spending, support for Kiev and the interaction of arms industries. He besides discussed defence issues with Belgian and Latvian ministers. Deputy Prime Minister announced that Latvia wants to order Polish Lightning Rocket Kits and Baobab miner vehicles.
Tomorrow's the second day of meetings in Brussels. There will be a gathering of the North Atlantic Council attended by NATO Defence Ministers. The main subject remains the increase in defence spending. This is an absolute priority. Poland will support the US's determination to increase Europe's safety spending," Kosiniak-Kamysz pointed out. The NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte besides spoke about raising defence spending during the gathering with journalists. In his opinion, the Alliance's fresh commitment to this could be defined as more than 3% of GDP, although he acknowledged that the debate on this substance was inactive at an early stage.
