Polish president says prime minister’s remarks on halting arms transfers to Ukraine were taken out of context

Polish President Andrzej Duda has said that the media interpreted Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's words about halting arms deliveries to Ukraine in “the worst possible way.” “In my opinion, the prime minister said the following: We are not going to transfer the new weapons that we are now buying to modernize the Polish army to Ukraine,” Duda said, adding that as head of state, he does not believe Poland can hand over its new weapons, purchased for “billions of dollars to strengthen the Polish army and Polish security,” to anyone.

The president emphasized that Poland has contracts to supply Ukraine with Krab self-propelled howitzers, as well as ammunition and combat engineering vehicles. Duda allowed that Poland might transfer its old weapons to Ukraine in the future.

On September 20, Morawiecki said that Poland is no longer supplying weapons to Ukraine, focusing instead on arming its own military.

The U.S. Defense Department, commenting on Morawiecki's words, said that every country has the right to decide for itself what level of support to provide to Ukraine. Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder also emphasized the significant military and humanitarian assistance Poland has already provided to Ukraine.

Poland has given more than 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) worth of military aid to Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, including ammunition, armored vehicles, and Soviet fighter jets.