Donald Trump is the only world leader capable of stopping Vladimir Putin from threatening Europe, according to Poland's President Karol Nawrocki.
In an interview with Radio 4's Today programme, he said the Russian leader was not to be trusted, but that Europe needed to do everything it could to support President Trump in his efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
President Nawrocki was already well-known as a firm supporter of Donald Trump even before he landed in Britain for meetings with PM Sir Keir Starmer and others.
Now, he says that with Vladimir Putin's Russia threatening his country as well as central and eastern Europe, the US president was the only person who could, as he put it, solve this problem – as well as ending the war in Ukraine.
Referring to last September's mass incursion by Russian drones, when more than 20 uncrewed aircraft crossed into Poland from Belarus and Ukraine, President Nawrocki called it an extraordinary situation, adding that until that time, no Nato member state had experienced a drone attack on that scale. Russia, he said, was testing Poland's defences and testing NATO's solidarity.
The Polish president then thanked Britain for sending over RAF Typhoon jets to help defend his borders. He said Poland had been in a state of hybrid war with Russia since 2021, as it dealt with drones and disinformation.
This Russian grey zone activity showed we are living in dangerous times, he added.
He was asked about his friendship with Donald Trump, particularly in light of the US president's threats to take over by any means the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland. President Nawrocki insisted that the US was still the guarantor of security in Europe, and what Trump was doing on behalf of the Europeans deserved support and great respect.
He criticized European leaders for focusing on ideological issues rather than building resilience and security, remarking that Poland was allocating close to 5% of its GDP to defence.
For Britain, he had some warm words, stating that relations between Poland and the UK were extremely important. He expressed his hope that Poland would be invited to participate in next year's G20 summit, hosted by Britain.
