The administration of US President Joseph Biden announced today that it has offered a loan of two billion dollars to Poland to help modernize the army of its ally, neighbor Ukraine.
Poland is the country through which most weapons of Western countries pass on their way to Ukraine, affected by the Russian invasion.
The State Department stated in a statement that Poland is a "firm" ally of the US whose "security is vital to the collective defense" of NATO's eastern wing, and that such funding is reserved for Washington's most important security partners.
The US government is also providing Warsaw with up to $60 million in loan costs through the so-called "Foreign Military Financing" (FMF) system that would support "emergency procurement of defense items and services from the United States," the State Department said.
The sum of sixty million dollars is a loan subsidy intended for Warsaw to provide itself with favorable terms for the loan.
Poland strongly supports Ukraine in repelling the Russian invasion and has given it a large number of tanks, fighter jets and other equipment.
Recently, Polish-Ukrainian relations have been strained due to a trade dispute regarding the entry of Ukrainian grain into the Polish market.
The presence of that grain lowers the price of food for Polish farmers, so Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that his country would no longer send weapons to Ukraine.
Morawiecki's comment created some confusion. Analysts noted that Poland had already given Ukraine most of what it had to give, and the statement was made on the eve of Polish parliamentary elections, so it has no greater value. However, it raised concerns that Western support for Ukraine may be waning.
US officials are trying to calm the bickering between Warsaw and Kiev, praising Poland's role in helping Ukraine and stressing that it is in Poland's strategic interest for Ukraine to defeat Russia.
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