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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda has met in Warsaw with Keith Kellogg, Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
Duda says he was assured by Kellogg that the US has “no intention to reduce the number of American soldiers in Poland” and that the talks had left him optimistic about the chances of ending hostilities in Ukraine.
However, the Polish president also warned – on the same day that US secretary of state Marco Rubio met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Saudi Arabia – that “this war cannot end with a Russian victory and a just peace must be established”.
Prezydent @AndrzejDuda: Jesteśmy po dwóch ważnych spotkaniach z przedstawicielami USA. Mogę śmiało powiedzieć, że mam pełen przegląd sytuacji jeśli chodzi o obecne działania podejmowane przez USA. Chce uspokoić moich rodaków.
Ameryka weszła mocno do gry, spodziewam się, że… pic.twitter.com/DpdkcMUTHD
— Kancelaria Prezydenta (@prezydentpl) February 18, 2025
Speaking after his meeting with General Kellogg, Duda said that he had “presented the situation to the general: how we perceive it and how it is being conveyed here in our part of Europe, also from Ukraine”.
Poland has been a strong ally of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, providing large amounts of military, humanitarian and diplomatic support and pushing for the strongest possible sanctions on Moscow.
Duda said that he wanted to “reassure all my compatriots” who, like many in Europe, “are full of concern” about how the new Trump administration will affect the situation.
“In my personal opinion, America has entered the game very strongly when it comes to ending the war in Ukraine,” said the Polish president. “I expect that there will be at least a cessation of aggression, and I hope that the war will end completely.”
“I know President Donald Trump,” continued Duda, who has a close relationship with the US president. “I know that he is an extremely decisive man and when he acts, he acts in a very determined and usually effective way.”
Duda also said that, following talks today with Kellogg and last week with new US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, he had been assured that “there are absolutely no American intentions to reduce activity here – in our part of Europe – especially in terms of security”.
“Quite the opposite,” he added. “We can rather expect a strengthening of the American presence.”
Around 8,000 American troops are currently stationed in Poland. The US established its first permanent military base in the country in 2023. Speaking today, Duda again raised an idea he had suggested during Trump’s first term of establishing another US base in Poland that would be called “Fort Trump”.
During his visit to Poland last week, Hegseth called the country as a “model ally” that was “leading the way” on defence spending (at 4.7% of GDP this year, its defence budget is the highest in NATO in relative terms). However, he also warned that Europeans should not “assume that America’s presence [here] will last forever”.
Donald Trump’s new defence secretary, @PeteHegseth, has hailed Poland as a “model ally” during a visit to Warsaw on his first overseas trip.
He said that US relations with Poland are "unmatched" anywhere else in Europe and he "came here to reinforce that" https://t.co/em9cZYn2JW
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 14, 2025
Trump’s decision to move ahead with direct talks with Russia has raised concern among some European leaders, who fear being sidelined from the process.
Yesterday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk – who is a domestic opponent of Duda – warned that there “should be no decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine and no decisions – in terms of Europe’s security – without Europe”.
Last week, Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, called Trump’s decision to hold direct talks with Vladimir Putin a “mistake.”
Polish PM @donaldtusk has criticised any exclusion of Europe from Ukraine peace talks after a Paris summit with European leaders.
“There should be no decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine and no decisions – in terms of Europe’s security – without Europe”https://t.co/ALkgKFshsK
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 18, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Marek Borawski/KPRP
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
