Polish Foreign Minister asks US Army to remain longer in the country
Poland hopes the United States will significantly participate in modernizing the Polish army, stated Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz after a meeting between US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, wPolityce reports.
"We hope that the ongoing talks concerning the Patriot system and other systems – we discussed helicopters produced in Poland, Black Hawks – we hope that these will be soon finalized," the Foreign Minister added. According to Czaputowicz, Warsaw counts not only on weapons imports, but also on the modernization of Polish enterprises with the help of the United States.
The diplomat stressed that Poland insists on the continued, "ever bigger" presence of the American military contingent in the country, as this gives the Polish people a "sense of security".
Warsaw and Washington have been negotiating over the past few months on the sale of the US-manufactured Patriot systems to Poland. On November 18, the US State Department approved the delivery of the anti-missile systems by the Pentagon to Poland in exchange for $10.5 billion. If the deal reaches final approval, Poland will also be able to conduct joint exercises with other members of the North Atlantic Alliance.
In August 2017, the Polish Foreign Ministry explained that Warsaw's desire to deploy batteries of Patriot air defense systems is linked to Russia's plans to rearm the missile brigade in the Kaliningrad region.