What goes in Poland on 7th of July.
The US President will support the Three Seas Initiative
The President of the United States ensured the Three Seas Initiative (TSI) had American support. „We welcome this historic opportunity to deepen our economic partnership with your region,” the President said.
President Trump pointed that the event was „historical” and stated he was honored to participate in it.
„I’m honored to be here in a city where, as it’s been said many times before, the impossible has become the possible. And thanks to the 11 leaders in this room, I think that the expression will become the story of this incredible initiative. I want to congratulate you on the great job you’ve done,” Trump said.
The US President pointed to the fact that each and every state of the TSI had an „inspiring story.”
„You’ve overcame years of oppression, and you all are united by the hope that your citizens will flourish, your commerce will prosper, and your countries will absolutely thrive. That’s what’s going to happen, because I know the people. This is the spirit of hope that brings us all together. We’re here at this historic gathering to launch a new future for open, fair, and affordable energy markets that bring greater security and prosperity to all of our citizens. We are sitting on massive energy and we are now exporters of energy. So, if one of you need energy, just give us a call.”
„On behalf of the American people, let me say that we stand with the Three Seas nations. Beautiful nations, by the way. Beautiful country. We support your drive for greater prosperity and security. We applaud your initiative to expand infrastructure. We welcome this historic opportunity to deepen our economic partnership with your region.”
Patriot missiles in Poland
On Thursday Poland’s Minister of Defense announced that „the US government gave consent in a memorandum, to sell Poland the Patriot missile defense systems.”
The US agreed to give Poland two „key technologies”, a state-of-the-art radar and SkyCeptor interceptors. Still, at the very end of the document released by the Ministry there is a statement, which says that memorandum was „not legally binding.” „The configuration in which the Patriot missiles are purchased is suited to Polish requirements. No other army in the world so far has had the possibility to purchase the Patriot missiles in a custom configuration,” the minister said. Moments later, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Witold Waszczykowski said that the purchasing of the Patriot missile system might be one of the topics during the talks between Presidents Duda and Trump.
The 2-page document presented by the Ministry of Defense says that Americans are yet to „determine a road map” for the purchase procedure and will provide a specific offer by December 2017. However, it will only pertain to the first phase. A year later a sales offer for the second phase will be presented. According to the US, in the first phase they will sell Poland two batteries in the same configuration as the one planned for the US army. The deliveries to Poland will start in 2022. The Pentagon also confirmed that it cannot rent or re-sell to Poland two radars with the batteries to speed up the process.
Duda wants US gas
„I would like us to sign a long-term contract with an American company, that would ensure LNG deliveries to Poland,” said President Duda.
„Apart from issues related to military security specifically, we will be mostly talking about the economy and this is related to energy security, gas security,” the President said when commenting on the Thursday talks with Donald Trump and the US delegation.
The President reminded that the first LNG delivery from the US reached Poland in early June and added that „everything went smoothly, it worked out, it turned out it was possible and there were no problems.”
„I would like us to sign a long-term contract with an American company, that would ensure LNG deliveries to Poland,” said President Duda. „Will this be a win-win? Of course, because the United States will sell this gas, so some American company will profit from this,” he added.
Russian media: Trump is bringing gas
When commenting on Donald Trump’s visit, the media in Moscow, e.g. Moscow Echo Radio, pointed to the possible deliveries of US LNG to Poland. This might be detrimental to Russian interests.
„Trump is bringing gas to Warsaw,” stressed the capital city’s business daily „RBK”. The newspaper quotes the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov and writes that „Russian analysts are closely looking at the economic issues, which will be discussed in Poland during Trump’s visit.” The daily reminded that a month ago, the Clean Ocean tanker, delivered the first LNG cargo to Poland from the US. The delivery will cover only half a percent of Poland’s gas consumption, but the first step has been made.