Washington DC, June 13: United States President Donald Trump has on Wednesday pledged to Poland’s President Andrzej Duda to deploy additional American troops to Warsaw, who sought a step to attend possible aggression from Russia.
According to Al-Jazeera news reports, Trump has announced the development during a joint media conference with Duda at the White House shortly after both the leaders inked a joint resolution affirming the defence cooperation.
The US president said Poland will but US-made F-35 advanced fighter jets and praised Warsaw for increasing defence spending in order to meet its NATO commitments.
The Polish president, who thought to name Washington installation as “Fort Trump”, stated the new deployment of US troops was required because of past aggression of Moscow against Poland, as well as, to enhance his nation’s ties to the West.
“Russia again is showing its unkind, unfriendly imperial face,” he said. “Russia is always looking out to take our territory.”
Trump’s decision depicts an effort to serve to the Polish interest, a NATO ally, while not fully antagonizing Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, which who Trump wishes to build a friendly relation.
Trump and Putin are slated to meet and hold dialogues in the coming two weeks. “I hope that Poland is going to have a great relationship with Russia. I hope that we’re going to have a great relationship with Russia,” said Trump.
As part of an agreement signed in 2016 with the NATO military alliance, the US has already deployed its troops to Poland in retaliation to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Poland’s neighbour Ukraine.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has issued an official statement welcoming the US move. “Today’s announcement is part of NATO’s measured, defensive and proportionate efforts to strengthen our deterrence and defence,” he said.