Polish president meets Sunak at Downing Street to discuss Ukraine
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has met with the president of Poland in Downing Street with talks on European security and support for Ukraine high on the agenda.
The visit comes after Nato defence ministers met in Brussels earlier this week, and ahead of the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
President Andrzej Duda of Poland, who is also due to meet Joe Biden later this month when the US president visits Poland, has reportedly said he is on a “diplomatic offensive” during the period.
Mr Duda was reported to have expressed expectations for updated security plans for Nato’s eastern flank when speaking at the organisation’s headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.
The meeting comes amid pressure from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for western nations to provide his country with fighter jets, something Downing Street has said would require agreement with international allies.
Both the UK and Poland have pledged to provide Ukraine with tanks, but when it comes to jets there has been greater hesitancy. Mr Duda has previously suggested it would be difficult for his nation because they do not have many jets of their own.
Speaking shortly after welcoming Mr Duda to Downing Street, Mr Sunak said: “It’s great to welcome you here to the UK, to London, and build on our friendship and our partnership and I think there’s nothing that we are more united on than our staunch support for Ukraine.
“And I know we’ll talk about that later today – what more we can both do to ensure that Ukraine wins this conflict, particularly in the run up to the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
“But also pleased that we were recently able to announce the extension of our Sky Sabre air defence system to Poland, just demonstrating our commitment to the European continent’s security.”
Last year, the UK deployed a medium-range missile system and personnel to Poland to “protect her airspace from any further aggression by Russia”.
Mr Sunak said that in addition to defence matters, he hoped they could speak about the “great partnership between our two countries on trade, on energy security, and make sure that we continue to deepen our partnership and friendship”.
Mr Duda thanked Mr Sunak for “your very, very, very clear support for Ukraine” and for supporting Polish security.
He outlined future plans to meet Nato and European leaders, describing it as a “very important moment”.
A readout of the meeting provided by Downing Street said the two leaders “both agreed it was important that support to Ukraine was accelerated in the coming weeks”.
