Poland has already identified two countries that would provide it with military assistance more quickly than NATO in the event of a Russian attack
This was announced by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk before leaving for London, where the document is to be signed, according to Money.pl.
“One of the first provisions of the agreement is of crucial importance. We realise that Russia poses the greatest threat. Polish-British cooperation is focused on countering this threat,” said Tusk.
He added that this is the second most significant defence agreement for Poland after the deal with France.
According to Tusk, the bilateral agreements are designed to ensure that Paris and London provide assistance to Warsaw in the event of a military conflict, before all 32 NATO countries agree to activate Article 5 of the Alliance’s charter and mount a joint response to the threat.
The Polish Prime Minister emphasised that Warsaw would continue to forge bilateral defence alliances in order to “have friends who are ready to respond immediately”.
“This is not a substitute, nor is it a supplement to NATO. <…> Poland is undoubtedly a country that cares about NATO as a whole and transatlantic relations. Nothing has changed here, but we want to be prepared,” said Tusk.
The British government clarified that the new agreement between Poland and the UK is aimed at strengthening defence cooperation, border protection and the fight against organised crime.
In particular, the agreement provides for the joint development of next-generation weapons, air defence and missile defence systems, as well as the joint production of medium-range missiles.
The UK and Poland also intend to expand the use of unmanned systems to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank and conduct joint exercises on countering drones and electronic warfare.
In late April, Tusk stated that Russia could launch a military attack on NATO countries as early as this year. He emphasised the need to ensure that all alliance countries are ‘in practice’ ready to fulfil their collective defence commitments.
EU Foreign Affairs Chief Kaja Kallas suggested that, due to the deadlock in the war with Ukraine, Putin might decide to attack one of the NATO countries in order to carry out a new mobilisation.
“Of course, no one can see what is going on in Putin’s mind. But this could be his calculation to move forward and change the course of this war,” Kallas noted.
It should be recalled that Poland previously stated that Russia is not currently ready for a major offensive against NATO.
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