Visiting Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said here Monday US President George W. Bush had removed key stumbling blocks in negotiations to allow US missile defense interceptors on Polish soil.
"The Polish point of view has been accepted and I treat that as – maybe not a breakthrough because I don't want to use big words – but a very clear explanation of our mutual intentions. This will allow our negotiators to continue their work," Associated Press quoted Tusk as reporting after the two leaders finished talking at the White House.
"No one will make haste on this. We want to negotiate a deal that will be good for Poland but also for the US. It does not mean it has to be immediately," Tusk said.
Prior to what the Poland's Prime Minister said, Bush, in a joint appearance with Tusk at the White House, told reporters that he had assured the Prime Minister that the United States would help Poland modernize its military "before my watch is over" in January.
"The United States recognizes the need for Polish forces to be modernized," Bush said. He did not offer any details.
The United States had backed down from an insistence that it would need six months to consider how it could help Poland upgrade its military, according to Tusk. He said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told him Monday that the period could be reduced to three months.
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, who visited Washington last month, said that he had reached an agreement in principle with the United States on US plans to install a missile defense system in the country.
Sikorski did not outline the terms of the deal. But Rice suggested at the time that the United States would help with Poland's air defenses, which the latter has asked for in the deal.
"We understand that there is a desire for defense modernization in Poland, and particularly for air defense modernization in Poland," Rice said.
While Tusk disclosed US concession over anti-missile shield negotiation, the White House denied the suggestion that the US military help is a reward for Poland's agreement, claiming "It is certainly not a quid pro quo."
(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2008)
