PREVIEW - Trump, Duda Expected to Boost US-Polish Defense Ties During Talks at White House
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th June, 2020) President Donald Trump and visiting Polish President Andrzej Duda are expected to significantly boost defense and energy cooperation between their countries in a new series of bilateral agreements and contracts during talks at the White House on Wednesday.
Duda confirmed last week that he had received an official invitation to visit the United States and said that he and Trump would discuss cooperation in the fields of defense, energy and cybersecurity.
The United States will deploy 2,000 servicemen to Poland instead of initially planned 1,000, Polish media reported on Tuesday.
According to the Warsaw newspaper Gazeta Prawna, in addition to the troops, the command of the V Corps of the US Armed Forces, which is now in Germany, will be also relocated to Poland.
The United States and Poland are finalizing their work on a bilateral strategic defense cooperation agreement, a senior US administration official told reporters on Tuesday.
Duda and Trump plan to sign the Defense Cooperation Act, regulating the conditions under which US troops will be stationed in Poland, Gazeta Prawna said.
Another US official said the two countries have more than 100 active military initiatives with a total value of over $15 billion. Poland, the official added, is part of the F-35 fighter program and has acquired PATRIOT missile defense systems and High Mobility Artillery Rocket systems.
These modernization projects will allow Warsaw to strengthen its capability and be a "very strong partner" to the United States bilaterally and within NATO, the official added.
Moreover, Washington also plans to deploy about 30 F-16 fighter jets to the Eastern European state.
During the visit to the United States, Duda reportedly plans to sign an agreement to receive five C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, that were previously in use with the US Armed Forces. According to the media outlet, Warsaw will also announce its intention to purchase AH-64 Apache or Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopters.
Trump said earlier in June that he was planning to reduce the number of US troops stationed in Germany from 35,000 to roughly 25,000, and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said that he hopes Washington will relocate the troops to Poland.
The United States is also taking steps that will allow Poland to build a nuclear plant using American technology, a senior US administration official told reporters on Tuesday.
According to Duda, he is also planning to address "trade cooperation between Poland and the US, as well as US trade cooperation with the countries of the Three Seas Initiative [12 European countries]."
US and Polish leaders are also expected to tackle the topic of telecommunications security, including the development of the 5G communication standard.