Poland's Tusk to push stronger NATO eastern flank to Biden

By Steve Holland and Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NATO's capabilities on its eastern flank need to be increased to deter Russia, Poland's prime minister said in Washington on Tuesday, previewing a message he plans to convey to U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda are in the U.S. capital for a meeting with Biden scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EST. US and Polish leaders hope to show solidarity for Ukraine in its battle against Russian invaders and plan to discuss ways to increase funding for NATO against the ongoing threat from Moscow.

"NATO must accept that if not today, then tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, operational capabilities on NATO's eastern flank must be greater," Donald Tusk told private broadcaster TVN24.

"A strong, equipped Poland, supported by allies, is not only a matter of our security, but the security of the entire West," he added.

The White House meeting comes as Biden presses to overcome Republican hardliners in Congress who are stalling $95 billion for Ukraine weaponry and aid to Israel.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters ahead of the talks that the United States will offer to sell 96 Apache helicopters to Poland and will approve a $2 billion direct foreign aid loan for Warsaw.

He said Biden and the Polish leaders would reaffirm their support for NATO's Article 5 mutual defense pact and reaffirm their support for Ukraine's defense against Russia.

They are expected to discuss plans for the annual NATO summit to be held July 9-11 in Washington.

PLEAS FOR AMERICAN HELP

Speaking before the talks, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to allow a vote on the Ukraine funds, but toned down an earlier plea in which he said Johnson would be blamed if the bill failed and Russian troops advanced.

"If the American package doesn't arrive ... Ukraine might be in difficulty, and that might eventually mean the need for more American troops in Europe," he told reporters at a Monitor breakfast.

Sikorski also appealed to Johnson's Baptist faith, saying that Russia "persecutes religious minorities, including Baptists" in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

Sikorski said that Poland had joined a Czech-led plan to buy 800,000 rounds of ammunition for Ukraine, describing Warsaw's financial contribution as "substantial".

The Senate passed the bill containing $60 billion in security aid for Ukraine last month in a bipartisan vote. Johnson, an ally of former President Donald Trump who opposes more help for Ukraine, has refused to put it to a vote.

A White House official said the three leaders would celebrate the 25th anniversary of Poland joining NATO and will discuss "deepening our defense relationship which has grown closer over the past two years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine."

Duda set the stage for the talks by writing an opinion article for the Washington Post calling for each NATO ally to increase defense spending from 2% to 3% of GDP because Russian President Vladimir Putin has switched the Russian economy to war mode and is allocating 30% of the annual budget to arm itself.

"A return to the status quo ante is not possible. Russia’s imperialistic ambitions and aggressive revisionism are pushing Moscow toward a direct confrontation with NATO, with the West and, ultimately, with the whole free world," Duda wrote.

Biden's Republican opponent in the November presidential election, Donald Trump, told Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban he will not give money to help Ukraine fight Russia if he wins the presidency again and that will hasten an end to the war, Orban said after meeting him.

"He will not give a penny into the Ukraine-Russia war and therefore the war will end," Orban told state television late on Sunday. "As it is obvious that Ukraine on its own cannot stand on its feet."

(Reporting by Steve Holland in Washington, Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz, Anna Koper in Warsaw; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Nick Zieminski, Alexandra Hudson)