Russia’s barbaric attack on Ukraine has undermined the foundations of the international order that we had known to date. Vladimir Putin’s deliberate escalation of the conflict has also led to a deepening humanitarian crisis. 

During the conversation with Prime Minister Morawiecki, Vice President Kamala Harris expressed her gratitude towards the Polish government for the steps taken so far to broadly support Ukraine. She also announced the continued commitment of the US to peace in the region, as well as taking any necessary diplomatic and material actions in this regard. 

Kamala Harris also expressed her appreciation to Polish citizens for their solidarity and devotion to helping address the humanitarian crisis on the Poland-Ukraine border. 

Strengthening NATO's eastern flank

With Russian military forces amassing near the Russia-Ukraine border, the US and other NATO members took steps to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank. The US side has repeatedly stressed that its relations with Poland are extremely strong and that maintaining unity remains NATO’s primary objective. To address the deteriorating situation in Ukraine, additional US forces have been deployed to Poland. Vice President Kamala Harris also reaffirmed her readiness to comply with obligations to protect the integrity of the NATO alliance and guarantee its security, which result from the North Atlantic Treaty.

Sanctions

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki thanked the US for taking joint sanction measures against Russia, particularly in terms of blocking financial systems, imposing restrictions on technology exports and freezing assets belonging to Russian oligarchs. 

At the same time, he explained that Poland’s view is that these measures should be expanded so that Russia would be strongly affected by a further sanction package – particularly as regards gas and fuel exports.