WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014\u00a0The Biden administration\u00a0announced Monday that it is offering a $2 billion loan to\u00a0Poland, which has been a hub for weapons going into\u00a0Ukraine, to support the ally\u2019s defense modernization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The State Department said in a statement that Poland is a \u201cstalwart\u201d ally of the U.S. whose \u201csecurity is vital to the collective defense\u201d of\u00a0NATO\u00a0\u2019s eastern flank, and that such funding is reserved for Washington\u2019s most important security partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. government is also providing Warsaw up to $60 million for the cost of the loan in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) which would support \u201curgent procurements of defense articles and services from the United States,\u201d the State Department said. The $60 million is a loan subsidy meant to ensure that Warsaw can secure favorable terms for the loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poland has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since\u00a0Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of the country,\u00a0handing over large numbers of its own tanks, fighter jets and other equipment. It has also been a hub for most of the Western weapons going to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has been undergoing a process of modernization to replace what it gave away, much of which was based on old Soviet technology, putting in orders with U.S. and\u00a0South Korean defense companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently the Polish-Ukrainian relationship has seen strains due to a trade dispute centered on Ukrainian grain entering the Polish market and driving down the prices Polish farmers can get. Amid the spat Poland\u2019s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said his country was no longer sending any more weapons to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The comment created some confusion. Analysts noted that Poland has already in fact given Ukraine most of what it has to give, and the statement was made ahead of a Polish election and did not mean much. But it also raised concerns that Western support for Ukraine\u00a0could be weakening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. officials have sought to play down the spat, praising Poland\u2019s role in helping Ukraine and noting that it is in Poland\u2019s strategic interest for Ukraine to prevail against Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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