Polish president on six-day visit to America

During their Wednesday meeting at the White House, Duda and Trump were expected to announce a long-awaited deal to boost America’s military presence in Poland amid fears of a resurgent Russia.

Krzysztof Szczerski, chief of staff to the Polish head of state, told reporters this week that Warsaw and Washington had concluded negotiations on a political deal for a stepped-up US military presence in Poland and that the US troop presence "will be increased both in terms of quality and quantity."

During their White House talks, Duda and Trump were also expected to discuss energy cooperation, including more deliveries of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Poland as part of efforts by Warsaw to diversify supplies and bolster energy security by becoming independent of Russian gas, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

The two leaders have additionally planned to discuss a range of international issues, including Ukraine and the Middle East, Polish officials have said.

According to a statement last month by the White House press secretary Duda and Trump were expected to “discuss the growing United States-Poland strategic partnership and a range of mutual interests, including defense, security, energy, and trade matters” during their White House rendezvous.

Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz and Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak were among a delegation of officials expected to accompany the Polish president during the White House talks on Wednesday.

In what the media described as a joint declaration on strategic partnership, Poland and the United States agreed to bolster defence ties and pledged to step up cooperation on energy projects when Duda and Trump previously met at the White House in September last year.

While in the United States this month, the Polish president is also scheduled to visit Houston, Texas and the western states of Nevada and California.

During his six-day trip, which runs until Monday, President Duda is expected to visit an LNG terminal, meet with American businessmen, and stop by the headquarters of IT corporations including Google.

The Polish president's chief of staff has told reporters that a string of bilateral agreements are expected to be signed on energy, medical technology and business team-ups during Duda’s trip to the United States this week.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR