Vice President Kamala Harris reaffirmed Thursday the close partnership between the U.S. and Poland after an unusually public spat between the two countries over providing fighter jets to Ukraine.
Ms. Harris’ comments came during a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw.
“I want to be very clear. The United States and Poland are united in what we have done and are prepared to help Ukraine and the people of Ukraine — full stop,” Ms. Harris said during the press conference.
However, when a reporter asked Ms. Harris about the flap, she sidestepped the issue. She ticked off a list of military support the U.S. has already provided Ukraine, including anti-tank missiles.
“We’re making deliveries every day in terms of what we can do,” she said, adding that the U.S. and Poland will do everything in “partnership and solidarity” to help Ukraine.
Mr. Duda also appeared to brush off the fighter jet row, calling the situation “extremely complicated.” He emphasized that Poland’s relationship with the U.S. is a “true friendship.”
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Earlier this week, Poland surprised the Pentagon with its plan to provide Ukraine with Soviet-era fighter jets. U.S. officials were caught off guard by the move, which they opposed because it would increase the risk of a direct conflict with Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly pleaded with the U.S. to provide his military with more aircraft.
Poland’s offer was not discussed with U.S. officials or raised with Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his recent trip to the country.
In a statement Thursday, the commander of the U.S. forces in Europe defended the Biden administration’s opposition to sending jets to Ukraine.
Air Force Gen. Tod D. Wolters said the jets, known as MiGs, won’t be as effective as the anti-tank weapons and air-defense systems provided to Ukraine by the international community.
“The transfer of MiG-29 aircraft will not appreciably increase the effectiveness of the Ukrainian Air Force,” Gen. Wolters said in a statement. “The Ukrainian Air Force currently possesses numerous mission capable aircraft that are flying daily. Adding aircraft to the Ukrainian inventory is unlikely to change the effectiveness of the Ukrainian Air Force relative to Russian capabilities.”
Ms. Harris also confirmed the nation’s commitment to NATO; Poland is one of the alliance’s 30 members. Some in Europe have feared that Russian President Vladimir Putin could launch an attack on Poland after Ukraine.
“The United States is prepared to defend every inch of NATO territory,” the vice president said. “The United States takes seriously that an attack against one is an attack against all. We are here to restate that commitment but also to do what we must do to reinforce our support of Poland and our allies through the EU-NATO alliance.”
Both Ms. Harris and Mr. Duda spent much of the press conference addressing the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
Ms. Harris said the U.S. is giving an additional $50 million to the U.N. World Food Program to assist with humanitarian relief in Ukraine.
She pledged to continue U.S. support of Poland’s acceptance of Ukrainian refugees. Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine began two weeks ago, Poland has accepted more than 1.5 million refugees.
“And that has put an extraordinary burden on Poland and the people of Poland. And so we will continue with the support that we can give you,” Ms. Harris said.
Mr. Duda urged the U.S. for more support to help refugees, which he called, “a huge crisis.”
“I asked Madam Vice President for support as it is quite obvious that such a huge refugee crisis is a surprise for Poland and it is a complicated situation,” he said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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