U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday that he will deploy 1,000 additional U.S. troops to Poland.
Trump announced the increased troop deployment at a joint news conference with Duda in the White House Rose Garden shortly after the two leaders signed a joint declaration affirming defense cooperation and watched a U.S.-made F-35 fighter jet fly overhead.
Poland will provide "basing and infrastructure to support military presence of about 1,000 American troops," at no cost to the United States, Trump said.
Duda, who is considering naming the U.S. installation in Poland as "Fort Trump," said the new influx of troops was needed because of what he described as Moscow's "past aggression" against Poland and to help solidify his country's ties to the West.
Trump said earlier the troop contingent could come from the U.S. force in Germany, which he has accused of paying too little for NATO's common defense.
Poland, which joined NATO in 1999, currently hosts around 4,500 U.S. troops. It has been lobbying for a permanent U.S. military base on Polish soil, even offering to pay two billion U.S. dollars in costs.
During their meeting earlier on Wednesday, Trump said about 2,000 additional U.S. troops could be moved to Poland from another location in Europe, but added that no final decision had been made. Duda expressed his hope that the U.S. military presence in Poland would increase gradually.
The decision by Trump represents an effort to cater to the interests of Poland, a key NATO ally, while not overly antagonizing Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Trump would like to have friendly relations. He and Putin are expected to meet in Japan during the G20 summit in two weeks.
"I hope that Poland is going to have a great relationship with Russia. I hope that we're going to have a great relationship with Russia," said Trump.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg issued a statement welcoming the deployment.
"Today's announcement is part of NATO's measured, defensive and proportionate efforts to strengthen our deterrence and defense," he said.
With Trump to turn 73 on Friday, Duda wished Trump a happy birthday at an evening White House reception whose audience included Polish-Americans. Some in the crowd launched into a happy birthday song in Polish.
"This first term of your presidency will be the introduction to your second term," Duda told Trump.
The Polish president also signed contracts worth around 8 billion U.S. dollars for the purchase of American liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to Trump.
An RT report said the move, on top of an existing 20-year deal for Poland to buy LNG from the U.S., underscores Warsaw's intention to "give up Russian gas entirely," though American gas is "more expensive" and "not as reliable to meet Poland's needs."
