WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s president on Monday called on other NATO allies to raise defense spending to 3% of gross domestic product as Russia puts its economy on war footing and advances its invasion of Ukraine. Ta. .
President Andrzej Duda made this call both in remarks in Warsaw and in an article published in the Washington Post. His appeal came on the eve of a White House visit by US President Joe Biden to host both him and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday.
“Russia’s imperial ambitions and aggressive revisionism are pushing it toward direct confrontation with NATO, the West, and ultimately the entire free world,” Duda said in the op-ed.
After Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014, NATO increased spending to member states to 2% of GDP, but most members, including Germany, still fall short of that threshold.
NATO chief agrees with Donald Trump that Europe should build up more funding for military alliance https://t.co/KxcgHd1lAI pic.twitter.com/KgmShaCu9
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 8, 2016
However, Poland currently spends 4% of its GDP on defense, making it the member state that spends the most on military modernization by percentage, with the United States well ahead of 3%.
Duda said this puts the United States and Poland in a position to “set an example and provide inspiration to other countries.”
“The Russian Federation has switched its economy to war mode. It devotes nearly 30 percent of its annual budget to armaments,” Duda claimed. “This figure and other data coming out of Russia are alarming. Vladimir Putin’s regime poses the greatest threat to world peace since the end of the Cold War.”
After his visit to the United States, Mr. Duda is scheduled to visit Brussels and meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Polish Foreign Minister: “Soldiers from NATO countries are already in Ukraine”https://t.co/Tif4xLohAh
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 11, 2024
