Polish president rules out sending brand new weapons to Ukraine

WARSAW, Poland — Polish President Andrzej Duda has ruled out the possibility of supplying newer weapons to Ukraine, including the tanks, self-propelled howitzers, missile launchers and light attack aircraft that his country has ordered from South Korean manufacturers for Poland’s military.

Duda made the announcement on Oct. 25 during his official visit to South Korea where he met with his counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol.

The South Korean president recently announced his country is considering to provide weapons to Ukraine to support its ongoing combat against Russia’s attack.

Duda was asked whether Poland could also supply some of its South Korea-made weapons to Kyiv, which play a key role in a broad effort to modernize Warsaw’s arsenal.

“There is no scenario under consideration in which we transfer the weapons that we have acquired … with taxpayers’ money, to anyone,” the Polish president said, as quoted by local news agency PAP.

Duda also said Ukrainian leaders had already asked for the weapons directly.

“My answer was unequivocal: There is no such possibility, as long as I’m president, that we give to anyone the weapons that we have bought for billions of dollars … over the past years,” according to the president.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Poland has established itself as a key ally of its neighbor under attack. Warsaw has supplied tanks, armored vehicles, howitzers, fighter jets and other types of gear to Kyiv, predominantly transferring outdated Soviet-designed equipment.

However, over the past year, the bilateral relationship has turned sour, with contentious issues such as a clash over a Polish ban on Ukrainian grain imports eventually bleeding into defense cooperation.

While Polish weapon deliveries have largely phased out, the country’s centrist government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk continues to support Ukraine, and the two countries signed a security cooperation agreement in July 2024. The deal foresees Polish support for integrating Ukraine’s defense industry with Western partners, and intensifying air-defense cooperation between the two nations in the event of an attack.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——波兰总统安杰伊·杜达排除了向乌克兰提供新型武器的可能性，其中包括波兰向韩国制造商订购的坦克、自行榴弹炮、导弹发射器和轻型攻击机。

杜达于10月25日对韩国进行正式访问期间宣布了这一消息，他在访问期间会见了韩国外长尹锡烈。

韩国总统近日宣布，韩国正在考虑向乌克兰提供武器，以支持其正在进行的对抗俄罗斯侵略的战斗。

有人问杜达，波兰是否也能向基辅提供一些韩国制造的武器，这些武器在华沙武器库现代化的广泛努力中发挥着关键作用。

据波兰通讯社PAP报道，波兰总统表示：“我们目前没有任何方案会将我们用纳税人的钱获得的武器转让给任何人。”

杜达还表示，乌克兰领导人已经直接要求提供这些武器。

总统表示：“我的回答非常明确：只要我还是总统，就绝不可能把我们过去几年花费数十亿美元购买的武器交给任何人……”

自俄罗斯于2022年2月全面入侵乌克兰以来，波兰已成为其遭受攻击的邻国的关键盟友。华沙向基辅提供了坦克、装甲车、榴弹炮、战斗机和其他类型的装备，其中大部分是过时的苏联设计装备。

然而，在过去一年里，双边关系恶化，诸如波兰禁止乌克兰粮食进口的冲突等争议性问题最终蔓延到国防合作领域。

尽管波兰对乌克兰的武器交付已基本停止，但该国总理唐纳德·图斯克领导的中间派政府仍然支持乌克兰，两国于2024年7月签署了安全合作协议。该协议规定，波兰将支持乌克兰国防工业与西方伙伴的融合，并在遭受攻击时加强两国之间的防空合作。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。