"Thanks to Poland's leadership we're standing strong in support of Ukraine". Blinken and Rau spoke in Washington

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Washington, D.C. with Poland's Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau.

"I can't think of a time when the United States and Poland, and our partnership has been more important and more effectiveThanks to Poland's leadership we're standing strong in support of Ukraine - faced with the Russian aggression - supporting it terms of security assistance, economic assistance, humanitarian assistance," Blinken said.

"Polish people have done extraordinary things in their generosity towards so many refugees from Ukraine. Poland has been instrumental in the work that everyone has done to help Ukraine deal with the Russian aggression," Blinken added.

"We're working together to strengthen NATO, going forward to strengthen its defensive capacity, to implement the strategic concept that we've all agreed on," he said. Blinken also praised Poland's leadership in the OSCE.

Poland's Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said the last time the two of them spoke had been almost on the eve of the Russian attack on Ukraine. "We didn't expect that, but nevertheless when it came to this very tragic event, we as allies, as NATO members, showed firmness, resilience, and determination in the defence of our common values. And this is, above all, what is uniting Poland and the U.S." - he said.

"Needless to say that traditionally Poland considers the United States our closest ally and the tradition of our friendship is as long as the history of the United States. But I'm absolutely sure that right now our bilateral relations are as strong as never before. Nevertheless, I am also sure that the best time in our bilateral relations is still ahead of us," Rau added.

"This is why I'm so excited coming here and look forward to our discussions concerning our future cooperation in many, many dimensions - political, military, certainly economic, not to mention our cooperation in launching our nuclear power programme. And there are many, many other ties that connect our two states, and what's also very important, our two societies," Polish foreign minister said.

Later on Rau told reporters that he and Blinken had agreed that that air defence over Ukraine was priority.

According to Polish foreign minister, Blinken expressed concerns regarding another wave of Ukrainian refugees. In that context, the two discussed "safe skies" over Ukraine, as well as the question of support for that country.

In his view, the war in Ukraine could end "only with a strategic defeat of Russia and restoration of territorial integrity of Ukraine".

He also reminded that Poland's standpoint assumed a possibilty of talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin only once the Russian forces have been pushed out of Ukraine.

Rau also said his discussion with Blinken pertained to "current and future" presence of U.S. troops on the eastern flank of NATO. "Naturally, I focused on the Polish part of said flank," he explained.

Furthermore, Rau said that the Americans did not rule out strenghtening their forces on the eastern flank. "Quite on the contrary. This is not the time for a decreased, but for increased presence," he added.