Polish President Andrzej Duda may meet Donald Trump during a visit to New York this week, he said on Tuesday (April 16), as European leaders prepare for the possibility of the Republican's return to the White House.
A Trump campaign official confirmed a meeting would take place. The two will meet on Wednesday evening at Trump Tower in Manhattan, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Nationalist Duda, whose term in office expires in 2025, was one of Trump's preferred international partners during his presidency. The Polish president's top aide has said they remain in contact.
"If there is such a possibility, because it also depends on the schedule, I will also meet socially with president Donald Trump," Duda told reporters before boarding his plane.
The Polish president also stressed he and Trump know each other well. "It's not a new situation for me to meet with my friends, who used to serve as presidents and with whom I conducted Polish affairs on the international arena," he explained.
Tabloid Fakt and news portal WP.pl both earlier cited sources as saying that an informal meeting would take place on a visit to New York during which Duda is scheduled to meet United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Trump, who went on trial in New York over a hush money payment on Monday, is in a tight race with U.S. President Joe Biden ahead of the November presidential election.
Many European leaders have long been nervous that another Trump presidency would mean waning U.S. support for Poland's neighbour Ukraine and the NATO military alliance.
Poland is a staunch ally of Ukraine and both Duda and liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk have urged United States lawmakers to approve $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
While Tusk and Duda are bitterly divided over a host of domestic issues, they are united on the importance of continued support for Ukraine.
"If he actually meets (with Trump), we would expect him to firmly raise the issue of clearly siding with the West and Europe in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict," Tusk told reporters on Tuesday.
He said his foreign minister would also brief Duda on the importance of speeding up the delivery of American weapons to Poland.
Hungary's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, met Trump in March, saying afterwards that Trump told him he would not give money to help Ukraine fight Russia if he wins the U.S. presidency again.
Tusk said he had the impression that almost everyone in Poland understood that a Trump victory would be to the detriment of "the security of Poland, Europe and the future of NATO".
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: TVN24