presidential visits to lithuania

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President biden meets the lithuanian president ahead of nato summit.

President Joe Biden used his meeting with President Gitanas Nausėda of Lithuania to reaffirm U.S. commitment to NATO ahead of the alliance's summit in Vilnius. July 11, 2023

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President Biden Participates in Arrival Ceremony Ahead of NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania

President Biden was greeted by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda at the presidential palace in Vilnius, Lithuania, which was hosting the 2023 NATO Summit.

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Andrius covers politics and general news in the Baltics - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the three key states along the NATO's eastern flank, the staunchest supporters of Ukraine and the most vocal critics of Russia in NATO and the European Union. He wrote stories on everything from China pressuring German companies to leave Taiwan-supporting Lithuania to Iraqi migrants hiding in the forest at the Belarus border to a farmer burning grain for heat during the energy crisis.

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President Zelenskyy pays unannounced visit to Lithuania

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on an unannounced visit.

Source : Zelenskyy on Telegram

Quote : "Our reliable friends and fundamental partners are Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. Later, I will be in Tallinn and Riga, and today – Vilnius."

Details : Zelenskyy said that meetings are expected with the president, the prime minister, the speaker of the Seimas [Lithuanian parliament - ed.], and meetings with representatives of political forces, the media, and the Ukrainian community are planned as well.

The issues to be discussed are security, Ukraine’s integration into the EU and NATO, cooperation in electronic warfare and drones, and further coordination of European support.

"And, of course, our immense gratitude. For unwavering support to Ukraine throughout the entire 10 years of the war, especially now, after the start of full-scale invasion," Zelenskyy  emphasised.

Background: On 9 January, the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, citing several independent sources, reported that Zelenskyy may visit Switzerland for at least two days next week.

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Ukraine's Zelenskyy opens a visit to the Baltic nations, seeking more aid against Russia's invasion

Ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy has arrived in lithuania ahead of visits to estonia and latvia, as ukraine seeks more help to bolster its air defenses amid russia’s intensified missile and drone onslaughts in the latest development of the 22-month war, article bookmarked.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy began a visit Wednesday to the Baltic countries, arriving in Lithuania as his country seeks to bolster its air defenses amid Russia’s intensified missile and drone onslaughts in the 22-month-old war.

The focus of his two-day trip to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Zelenskyy said on his official Telegram channel, will be security concerns, Ukraine’s hopes to join the European Union and NATO, and building partnerships in drone production and electronic warfare capacities.

Zelenskyy thanked Lithuania for its military assistance and goodwill. He was expected in Estonia and Latvia on Thursday.

“We know how tiring this long-running war is, and we are interested in Ukraine’s complete victory in it as soon as possible,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda told reporters.

The small countries are among Ukraine’s staunchest political, financial and military supporters, and some in the Baltics worry that they could be Moscow’s next target.

They have pushed Kyiv’s other Western allies to provide increasingly sophisticated weapons since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The three countries were seized and annexed by Josef Stalin during World War II before regaining independence with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. They joined NATO in 2004, placing themselves under the military protection of the U.S. and its Western allies.

“Democratic countries have done a lot to help Ukraine , but we need to do more together so that Ukraine wins and the aggressor loses,” Estonian President Alar Karis said in a statement.

“Then there is the hope that this will remain the last military aggression in Europe, where someone wants to dictate to their neighbor with missiles, drones and cannons what political choices can be made,” he said.

In his Telegram message, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the Baltic countries for their “uncompromising” support of Ukraine over the past 10 years, referring to 2014 when Russia’s aggression started with the illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula.

Russia’s recent escalation of missile and drone attacks is stretching Ukraine’s air defense resources, a Ukrainian air force official said Tuesday, leaving the country vulnerable unless it can secure further weapons supplies.

Zelenskyy’s energetic international diplomacy during the war has been essential to maintain pressure on friendly countries to keep supplying Kyiv with billions of dollars in weaponry, including German Leopard tanks, U.S. Patriot missile systems and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

That support has tailed off recently, however. A plan by the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to send to Kyiv billions of dollars in further aid is stuck in Congress, and Europe’s pledge in March to provide 1 million artillery shells within 12 months has fallen short, with only about 300,000 delivered so far.

Meanwhile, long-range strikes by the Kremlin’s forces have continued.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, came under attack from Russian S-300 missiles late Tuesday, said Mayor Ihor Terekhov.

The Russians hit an unoccupied summer camp on the northeastern city’s outskirts, he said on Telegram. Several buildings were damaged but no casualties were reported.

Ukraine also kept up its attempts to hit targets inside Russia.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed a Ukrainian drone early Wednesday over the Saratov region of southwestern Russia, on the Volga River.

Saratov Gov. Roman Busargin said the drone was downed over the Engels district, which is home to Russia’s main strategic bomber base that have launched cruise missiles at Ukraine. He said there were no casualties or damage.

Associated Press writer Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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Ukraine's Zelenskiy arrives in Lithuania for summit, war in focus

V ILNIUS (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Lithuania's capital Vilnius on Thursday to attend a conference and meet with the leaders of several other European countries.

Leaders from a dozen states in Central Europe, including Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania, are due to attend the Three Seas Summit in Vilnius on Thursday, with the war in Ukraine prominent on the agenda.

Zelenskiy, who announced his arrival in a post on X, will first meet with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and the two countries plan to sign a bilateral security agreement.

He signed another security agreement on Thursday with Latvia, which committed to spend at least 0.25% of its gross domestic product over 10 years with cyber defence, demining, and unmanned technologies.

"The main task for now is to make every effort to strengthen our air-defence system, to meet the urgent needs of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, and to consolidate international support so that we can overcome Russian terror," Zelenskiy said.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas; editing by Terje Solsvik, Stine Jacobsen and Devika Syamnath)

L-E.T. Myriam Spiteri Debono Il-President ta' Malta

In-Nutar Myriam Spiteri Debono hi l-ħdax-il President tar-Repubblika ta’ Malta, permezz ta’ Riżoluzzjoni mgħoddija unanimament mill-Kamra tar-Rappreżentanti nhar is-27 ta’ Marzu 2024.

Myriam Spiteri Debono kienet l-ewwel, u s’issa l-unika, Speaker mara tal-Kamra tar-Rappreżentanti. Twieldet u trabbiet ir-Rabat, Għawdex, fejn attendiet skejjel tal-istat, u wara fl-Università ta’ Malta gradwat bl-unuri fil-Letteratura u l-Lingwistika Ingliża, u wara bħala Nutar Pubbliku. Kienet waħda mill-ewwel nutara nisa.

Kienet Chairperson tal-Bord tal-Koperattivi u kienet ukoll membru tal-Gender Equality Commission meta din ġiet stabbilita. F’din il-kummissjoni kienet attiva ħafna fil-kumitat li kien jeżamina l-ilmenti dwar diskriminazzjoni u harassment.

Myriam Spiteri Debono kienet Chairperson tal-Press Ethics Commission fl-ewwel 3 snin tal-eżistenza tagħha, u kienet strumentali biex tfasslu l-ewwel bylaws u rules of procedure ta’ din il-kummissjoni.

Bdiet tkun attiva fl-isfera politika meta kienet għadha studenta u kienet waħda mill-fundaturi tal-Għaqda Studenti Soċjalisti. Għal 16-il sena sħaħ, il-Konferenza Ġenerali tal-Partit Laburista eleġġietha fuq l-eżekuttiv tal-partit. Kienet ukoll għal ħafna snin Segretarja Ġenerali u President tal-Għaqda Nisa Laburisti.

Bħala President tal-Għaqda Nisa Laburisti u bħala Speaker, ipparteċipat f’diversi konferenzi barra minn Malta fejn kien hemm drabi fejn ġiet magħżula biex tmexxi l-konferenza.

Mill-2009 sal-2024 kienet membru tal-Bord ta’ Rakkomandazzjonijiet għall-Onorifiċenzi tar-­Repubblika.

Myriam Spiteri Debono kienet nutar prattikanti. Hija miżżewġa lil Anthony Spiteri Debono, omm ta’ tlett itfal, Elena, George u Maria Kristina, u nanna ta’ erba’ neputijiet, Alexandra, Paul, Pippa u Beppe.

Poland's President Becomes the Latest Leader to Visit Donald Trump as Allies Eye a Possible Return

Former President Donald Trump met in New York with Polish President Andrzej Duda

Poland's President Becomes the Latest Leader to Visit Donald Trump as Allies Eye a Possible Return

Stefan Jeremiah

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks with Poland's President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump met Wednesday in New York with Polish President Andrzej Duda , the latest in a series of meetings with foreign leaders as Europe braces for the possibility of a second Trump term.

The presumptive Republican nominee hosted Duda at Trump Tower, where the two discussed the war in Ukraine and Duda’s push to boost NATO members’ defense spending, according to a readout from Trump’s campaign. Duda, who has long expressed admiration for Trump, is also a staunch supporter of Ukraine and has encouraged Washington to provide more aid to Kyiv amid Russian's ongoing invasion . That funding has been held up by Trump allies in Congress.

As he arrived, Trump praised the Polish president, saying, “He's done a fantastic job and he’s my friend.”

“We had four great years together," Trump added. “We’re behind Poland all the way."

Following the almost 2 1/2 hour meeting, Duda said only that it was a “friendly meeting in very nice atmosphere.”

His aide, Wojciech Kolarski, also in attendance, described it as an “excellent meeting” of “two friends who reminisced on the time when for four years they cooperated while holding presidential offices," a time that was "very fruitful for Polish-U.S. relations."

Photos You Should See - April 2024

Duda is the latest foreign leader to meet with Trump in the weeks since he locked up the Republican nomination. U.S. allies across the world were caught off guard by Trump’s surprise 2016 win, forcing them to scramble to build relationships with a president who often attacked longstanding treaties and alliances they valued. Setting up meetings with him during the 2024 campaign suggests they don't want to be behind again.

Even as he goes on trial for one of the four criminal indictments against him, Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden are locked in a rematch that most observers expect will be exceedingly close in November.

While some in Poland worried the visit might damage the country’s relationship with Biden, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. — a Biden ally and a major voice in his party on foreign affairs — said such meetings make sense.

“The polls are close,” he said. “If I were a foreign leader — and there’s a precedent attached to meeting with candidates who are nominated or on the path to being nominated — I’d probably do it too.”

Murphy noted that former President Barack Obama did a lengthy international tour and met with foreign leaders when he first ran for the White House. So did Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who challenged Obama in 2012 and whose trip included a stop in Poland's capital, Warsaw.

Duda’s visit comes a week after Trump met with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, another NATO member and key proponent of supporting Ukraine, at the former president’s Florida estate.

In March, Trump hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán , an autocrat who has maintained the closest relationship with Russia among European Union countries. Orbán shared a montage of footage of the visit on his Instagram feed, which included an image of him and his staff meeting with Trump and the former president’s aides in a scene that looked like an official bilateral meeting.

Trump also met briefly in February with Javier Milei, the fiery, right-wing populist president of Argentina who ran a campaign inspired by Trump , complete with red “Make Argentina Great Again” hats. Milei gave Trump an excited hug backstage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, according to video posted by a Trump campaign aide.

Biden administration officials have been careful not to weigh in publicly on foreign leaders’ meetings with Trump, acknowledging he has a real chance of winning the race.

While some officials have privately expressed frustration with such meetings, they are mindful that any criticism would open the U.S. to charges of hypocrisy because senior American officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meet frequently with foreign opposition figures at various forums in the United States and abroad.

Security and policy officials monitor the travel plans of foreign officials visiting the U.S., but generally don’t have a say in where they go or with whom they meet, according to an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss protocol.

Trump has been back in his hometown this week for the start of his criminal hush money trial , which has dramatically limited his ability to travel and campaign. While in town, aides have been planning a series of events that began Tuesday evening when Trump, after court adjourned, stopped by a Harlem bodega where a man was killed to rail against crime, and to blast the district attorney who made him the first former president in U.S. history to stand criminal trial.

Duda, a right-wing populist who once proposed naming a military base in his country “Fort Trump," described the dinner earlier Wednesday as a private get-together between friends at Trump's former residence while he is in town for meetings at the United Nations, where Duda is to deliver a speech.

“I have been invited by Mr. Donald Trump to his private apartment," Duda told reporters, saying it was “a normal practice when one country has good relations with another country” to want those relations to be as strong as "possible with the representatives of various sides of the political stage.”

“We know each other as people. Like two, I can say in some way, friends," said Duda, whose term ends in 2025.

Duda's visit comes as House Republicans wrangle over a $95 billion foreign aid bill that would provide new funding to Ukraine, including money for the U.S. military to replace depleting weapon supplies. Polish leaders have been urging the House to approve the aid bill and ease domestic concerns.

Many Trump allies in the House are fiercely opposed to aiding Ukraine, even as the country warns that it is struggling amid a fresh Russian offensive . Trump has said he might be open to aid in the form of a loan.

One area where Trump and Duda agree when it comes to the conflict is a desire to push NATO members to increase their defense spending. Duda has called on fellow members of the alliance to raise their spending to 3% of gross domestic product as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. That would represent a significant increase from the current commitment of 2% by 2024.

Trump, in a stunning break from U.S. precedent, has long been critical of the Western alliance and has threatened not to defend member nations that do not hit that spending goal. That threat strikes at the heart of the alliance's Article 5 , which states that any attack against one NATO member will be considered an attack against all.

In February, Trump went even further, recounting that he'd once told leaders that he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to members that are — in his words — “delinquent.”

Trump's campaign said the two discussed the NATO proposal during the meeting. The two also discussed Israel and the Middle East, Trump's 2017 trip to Warsaw, “and many other topics having to do with getting to world peace,” the campaign said in its readout, which described the men as “great friends.”

The visit was met with mixed reaction in Poland , where fears of Russia run high and Duda’s friendly relationship with Trump has been a source of controversy.

Poland’s centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Duda, was critical of the dinner but expressed hope that Duda would use it as an opportunity “to raise the issue of clearly siding with the Western world, democracy and Europe in this Ukrainian-Russian conflict.”

Scislowska reported from Warsaw. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Zeke Miller and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright 2024 The  Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Poland's president visits Donald Trump as allies eye a possible return

The Associated Press

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks with Poland's President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Stefan Jeremiah/AP hide caption

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks with Poland's President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.

Former President Donald Trump met Wednesday in New York with Polish President Andrzej Duda, the latest in a series of meetings with foreign leaders as Europe braces for the possibility of a second Trump term. The presumptive Republican nominee hosted Duda at Trump Tower, where the two discussed the war in Ukraine and Duda's push to boost NATO members' defense spending, according to a readout from Trump's campaign. Duda, who has long expressed admiration for Trump, is also a staunch supporter of Ukraine and has encouraged Washington to provide more aid to Kyiv amid Russian's ongoing invasion. That funding has been held up by Trump allies in Congress. As he arrived, Trump praised the Polish president, saying, "He's done a fantastic job and he's my friend." "We had four great years together," Trump added. "We're behind Poland all the way." Following the almost 2 1/2 hour meeting, Duda said only that it was a "friendly meeting in very nice atmosphere." His aide, Wojciech Kolarski, also in attendance, described it as an "excellent meeting" of "two friends who reminisced on the time when for four years they cooperated while holding presidential offices," a time that was "very fruitful for Polish-U.S. relations." Duda is the latest foreign leader to meet with Trump in the weeks since he locked up the Republican nomination. U.S. allies across the world were caught off guard by Trump's surprise 2016 win, forcing them to scramble to build relationships with a president who often attacked longstanding treaties and alliances they valued. Setting up meetings with him during the 2024 campaign suggests they don't want to be behind again. Even as he goes on trial for one of the four criminal indictments against him, Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden are locked in a rematch that most observers expect will be exceedingly close in November. While some in Poland worried the visit might damage the country's relationship with Biden, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. — a Biden ally and a major voice in his party on foreign affairs — said such meetings make sense. "The polls are close," he said. "If I were a foreign leader — and there's a precedent attached to meeting with candidates who are nominated or on the path to being nominated — I'd probably do it too." Murphy noted that former President Barack Obama did a lengthy international tour and met with foreign leaders when he first ran for the White House. So did Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who challenged Obama in 2012 and whose trip included a stop in Poland's capital, Warsaw. Duda's visit comes a week after Trump met with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, another NATO member and key proponent of supporting Ukraine, at the former president's Florida estate. In March, Trump hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an autocrat who has maintained the closest relationship with Russia among European Union countries. Orbán shared a montage of footage of the visit on his Instagram feed, which included an image of him and his staff meeting with Trump and the former president's aides in a scene that looked like an official bilateral meeting. Trump also met briefly in February with Javier Milei, the fiery, right-wing populist president of Argentina who ran a campaign inspired by Trump, complete with red "Make Argentina Great Again" hats. Milei gave Trump an excited hug backstage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, according to video posted by a Trump campaign aide. Biden administration officials have been careful not to weigh in publicly on foreign leaders' meetings with Trump, acknowledging he has a real chance of winning the race. While some officials have privately expressed frustration with such meetings, they are mindful that any criticism would open the U.S. to charges of hypocrisy because senior American officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meet frequently with foreign opposition figures at various forums in the United States and abroad. Security and policy officials monitor the travel plans of foreign officials visiting the U.S., but generally don't have a say in where they go or with whom they meet, according to an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss protocol.

Now that he's the presumptive nominee, Trump readies next campaign: who will be VP?

Trump has been back in his hometown this week for the start of his criminal hush money trial, which has dramatically limited his ability to travel and campaign. While in town, aides have been planning a series of events that began Tuesday evening when Trump, after court adjourned, stopped by a Harlem bodega where a man was killed to rail against crime, and to blast the district attorney who made him the first former president in U.S. history to stand criminal trial. Duda, a right-wing populist who once proposed naming a military base in his country "Fort Trump," described the dinner earlier Wednesday as a private get-together between friends at Trump's former residence while he is in town for meetings at the United Nations, where Duda is to deliver a speech. "I have been invited by Mr. Donald Trump to his private apartment," Duda told reporters, saying it was "a normal practice when one country has good relations with another country" to want those relations to be as strong as "possible with the representatives of various sides of the political stage." "We know each other as people. Like two, I can say in some way, friends," said Duda, whose term ends in 2025. Duda's visit comes as House Republicans wrangle over a $95 billion foreign aid bill that would provide new funding to Ukraine, including money for the U.S. military to replace depleting weapon supplies. Polish leaders have been urging the House to approve the aid bill and ease domestic concerns. Many Trump allies in the House are fiercely opposed to aiding Ukraine, even as the country warns that it is struggling amid a fresh Russian offensive. Trump has said he might be open to aid in the form of a loan. One area where Trump and Duda agree when it comes to the conflict is a desire to push NATO members to increase their defense spending. Duda has called on fellow members of the alliance to raise their spending to 3% of gross domestic product as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. That would represent a significant increase from the current commitment of 2% by 2024. Trump, in a stunning break from U.S. precedent, has long been critical of the Western alliance and has threatened not to defend member nations that do not hit that spending goal. That threat strikes at the heart of the alliance's Article 5, which states that any attack against one NATO member will be considered an attack against all. In February, Trump went even further, recounting that he'd once told leaders that he would "encourage" Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" to members that are — in his words — "delinquent." Trump's campaign said the two discussed the NATO proposal during the meeting. The two also discussed Israel and the Middle East, Trump's 2017 trip to Warsaw, "and many other topics having to do with getting to world peace," the campaign said in its readout, which described the men as "great friends." The visit was met with mixed reaction in Poland, where fears of Russia run high and Duda's friendly relationship with Trump has been a source of controversy. Poland's centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Duda, was critical of the dinner but expressed hope that Duda would use it as an opportunity "to raise the issue of clearly siding with the Western world, democracy and Europe in this Ukrainian-Russian conflict."

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Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskiy signs new mobilisation law in effort to boost Ukraine’s exhausted forces – as it happened

Kyiv brings in higher payments for volunteers and new punishments for draft dodgers

• 2d ago Closing summary
• 2d ago Ukraine identifies 37,000 people missing since Russia launched its full-scale invasion
• 2d ago Poland's president could meet Donald Trump in New York
• 2d ago German defence giant to build ammunition plant in Lithuania amid fears of Russian threat
• 2d ago Volodymyr Zelenskiy signs new army mobilisation law
• 2d ago Summary of the day so far...
• 2d ago Ukraine says it 'ran out of missiles' to stop Russian strike destroying power plant
• 2d ago Kremlin dismisses Macron's call for 'Olympic truce'
• 2d ago Russia-Ukraine Black Sea shipping deal was almost reached last month - report
• 2d ago Warnings over nuclear danger after attacks on Zaporizhzhia power plant
• 2d ago Opening summary

Volodymyr Zelenskiy signs new army mobilisation law

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy , signed into law a bill overhauling army mobilisation rules, according to the parliamentary website (see earlier post at 13.13 for more details)

The law will come into force a month after it is officially published, Reuters reports.

It obliges men to update their draft data with the authorities, boosts payments to those who volunteer, and adds new punishment for draft dodging. Russia has many more soldiers fighting in the war than Ukraine .

In the first weeks after the invasion, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Ukrainians volunteered to serve at the front in an explosion of patriotism that helped keep the country independent and fight off the initial attack.

More than two years later, however, many of those initial recruits are dead, wounded or simply exhausted, and the army needs new recruits to fill the ranks. By now, most of those who want to fight have already signed up, leaving the military to recruit among a much more reluctant pool of men.

Vladimir Putin ordered a “partial mobilisation” of 300,000 reservists in September 2022 , after a series of military defeats saw Russian forces routed from east Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and under increasing pressure in the southern Kherson region.

Since then, it has replenished its ranks by recruiting prisoners as well as luring tens of thousands of recruits from poorer Russian regions with the promise of high salaries.

At the end of 2023, Putin said that 486,000 new recruits had joined the army that year and that 1,500 a day were signing contracts.

Closing summary

Ukraine said it had identified almost 37,000 people, including military personnel, who are unaccounted for since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a mobilisation bill into law with the aim of boosting troop numbers. The parliament’s website said the bill had been “returned with the signature of the president” on Tuesday, after receiving final approval from lawmakers last week. The new law toughens penalties on draft dodgers, incentivises conscription and obliges men to keep their military registration details with the authorities up to date.

Polish President Andrzej Duda may meet Donald Trump during a visit to New York this week, he said on Tuesday . “If there is such a possibility, because it also depends on the schedule, I will also meet socially with … Donald Trump,” Duda, whose term in office expires in 2025, told reporters before boarding his plane. An informal meeting could reportedly take place on a visit to New York during which Duda is scheduled to meet the UN secretary-general António Guterres.

Lithuania and German weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall has agreed to build an ammunition plant in the Baltic state, in a new sign of Europe re-arming to counter any threat from Russia . Germany’s largest military equipment maker and the Lithuanian government signed a letter of intent to set up a factory to make 155mm artillery shells in the EU and Nato member.

In a wide-ranging interview with PBS NewsHour , Volodymyr Zelenskiy , said a lack of air defence missiles prevented Ukraine from thwarting a Russian missile attack last week that destroyed the Trypilska thermal power plant . His comments gave fresh urgency to Kyiv’s pleas to be sent more military weapons from its allies as the war appears to have turned in the Kremlin’s favour over recent months.

Mike Johnson , the US House speaker, has unveiled a complicated proposal for passing wartime aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan . Facing an outright rebellion from conservatives who fiercely oppose aiding Ukraine, Johnson said he would push to get the package to the House floor under a single debate rule, then hold separate votes on aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and several foreign policy proposals, according to Republican lawmakers.

Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz , has said he hoped Berlin and Beijing could help achieve a “just peace” in Ukraine , as he met his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping , in the Chinese capital.

Ukraine’s UN ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya , has accused Russia of a “a well-planned false-flag operation” endangering the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, as the two countries traded accusations at the UN security council over alleged attacks on Europe’s largest nuclear power station. The Zaporizhzia nuclear power plant reportedly suffered at least three direct strikes on 7 April and another drone attack at the plant’s nearby training centre on 9 April. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi , said, without attributing blame, that the “reckless” attacks had put the world “dangerously close to a nuclear accident”.

The Kremlin reacted coolly to France’s president Emmanuel Macron ’s call for a truce in international conflicts during the Paris Olympics, saying Ukraine might use it as an opportunity to regroup and rearm.

Russia and Ukraine negotiated for two months with Turkey on a deal to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea and reached agreement on a text that was to be announced by Ankara last month, but then Kyiv suddenly pulled out, sources told Reuters .

Thank you for following today’s latest news. This blog is closing now but you can read all our Ukraine coverage here .

Ukraine identifies 37,000 people missing since Russia launched its full-scale invasion

Calculating the exact number of missing is difficult, as Russian forces still occupy around a fifth of the country and neither side regularly releases data on military casualties.

“Almost 37,000 people are considered missing – children, civilians and military. These figures may be much higher,” Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets , said.

He said Ukraine and the Red Cross had identified about 1,700 people “illegally detained” by Russia, which he accused of “abducting civilians” since 2014, when war with Moscow-backed separatists in the country’s east first broke out.

Human rights groups have accused Russia of forced disappearances and abducting children in occupied areas, accusations the Kremlin has rejected.

The British Ministry of Defence has said that the UK-based Operation Interflex has trained over 34,000 Ukrainian recruits.

Military personnel from countries including Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Norway have been involved in the operation.

🇬🇧🇺🇦🇨🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿🇳🇴🇸🇪🇫🇮🇱🇹🇳🇱🇷🇴🇽🇰🇪🇪🇩🇰 The UK and 12 partner nations stand as one to support Ukraine in the training of recruits. Operation Interflex, based in the UK, has trained over 34,000 Ukrainian recruits with the help of our partners. #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/n40yeqKfiv — Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) April 16, 2024

Poland's president could meet Donald Trump in New York

Polish President Andrzej Duda may meet Donald Trump during a visit to New York this week, he said on Tuesday.

Duda, whose term in office expires in 2025, was one of Trump’s preferred international partners during his presidency. The Polish president’s top aide has said they remain in contact, according to Reuters.

“If there is such a possibility, because it also depends on the schedule, I will also meet socially with … Donald Trump,” Duda told reporters before boarding his plane.

An informal meeting could reportedly take place on a visit to New York during which Duda is scheduled to meet the UN secretary-general António Guterres

Many European leaders have long been nervous that another Trump presidency would mean waning US support for Poland’s neighbour Ukraine and the Nato military alliance.

Poland is a staunch ally of Ukraine and both Duda and Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk have urged US lawmakers to approve $60bn in military aid to Ukraine.

While Tusk and Duda are bitterly divided over a host of domestic issues, they are united on the importance of continued support for Ukraine.

“If he actually meets (with Trump), we would expect him to firmly raise the issue of clearly siding with the West and Europe in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict,” Tusk told reporters on Tuesday.

He said his foreign minister would also brief Duda on the importance of speeding up the delivery of American weapons to Poland.

German defence giant to build ammunition plant in Lithuania amid fears of Russian threat

Lithuania and German weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall has agreed to build an ammunition plant in the Baltic state, in a new sign of Europe re-arming to counter any threat from Russia , AFP reports.

Germany’s largest military equipment maker and the Lithuanian government signed a letter of intent to set up a factory to make 155mm artillery shells in the EU and Nato member that was once a Soviet-ruled nation.

“This will be the largest ever defence investment in Lithuania,” the country’s economy minister, Ausrine Armonaite, told reporters.

“It is time for us, democracies, to step up our arsenal that is (a) prerequisite to defend freedom,” Lithuania’s prime minister, Ingrida Šimonytė, said on social media.

Today we signed the Memorandum of Understanding with @RheinmetallAG , laying the foundation for artillery ammunition plant in 🇱🇹 and our long-term cooperation. I am very grateful to everyone working on this project since the day one. It is time for us, democracies, to step up our… pic.twitter.com/qSh0V8gqbj — Ingrida Šimonytė (@IngridaSimonyte) April 16, 2024

Lithuania is a staunch ally of Germany, which plans to deploy a brigade-sized military unit in the country until 2027 to help secure Nato’s eastern flank. Germany is also a key arms supplier to Lithuania.

Lithuania’s defence minister, Laurynas Kasciunas, said the war in Ukraine showed the importance of having an independent ammunition supply “as an integral part of national security and defence”.

The location of the plant and the investment amount are being negotiated between the government and the German company.

Poland will cooperate with the European Sky Shield Initiative air defence umbrella and it makes sense for the country to be part of several air defence systems, the country’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has announced.

The European Sky Shield Initiative is a common air defence scheme set up by Germany in 2022 to boost European air defence.

Warsaw has been one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters since Russia’s February 2022 invasion and has said Ukraine must regain control over all of its territory in order to deter Moscow from further aggression.

Russian blogger Anastasia Ivleeva , the organiser of a “Nearly Naked” party that caused a major scandal, has been charged with discrediting the Russian army, according to the Moscow court service.

Ivleeva has been charged with an administrative offence, which could lead to a fine, and the hearing has been set for 25 April, the court service said.

On 20 December, Ivleeva threw an “Almost Naked Party” at Moscow’s Mutabor nightclub. It was attended by a number of household celebrity names who have stayed in the country since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The scantily clad stars wore flesh-coloured mesh, lace, and lingerie, with one rapper attending in nothing but a sock, in what appeared to be a tribute to the famous 1987 Red Hot Chili Peppers album cover .

But when videos surfaced of the party, there was outrage among Russian politicians and law enforcement agencies. You can read more about what happened here:

Ukraine’s bill on mobilisation has been submitted to Volodymyr Zelenskiy for signature, according to the online portal of Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has said.

The Kyiv Independent reports :

The bill was passed in its second reading in parliament on 11 April and was signed by the speaker of the parliament on 15 April.

The bill on mobilisation is a critical component of the Ukrainian political and military leadership’s efforts to update the legal framework around conscription in order to ramp up mobilisation in 2024 .

After an initial, contentious version of the mobilisation bill was withdrawn in January, a new, updated version passed the first reading on 7 February. Lawmakers have proposed over 4,000 amendments to the bill since then.

Several key provisions of the earlier draft law were eventually passed by the parliament separately, with Zelenskiy signing three laws in early April: on the lowering of the conscription age to 25, the introduction of an electronic register for conscripts, and the canceling of the “partially eligible” status.

The final version of the mobilisation bill was approved by the parliament’s National Security and Defense Committee on 9 April.

Of the provisions remaining in the bill, key points include the right of disabled soldiers and those who have returned from captivity to discharge themselves, and the introduction of mandatory medical commission checks for those who previously held the “partially eligible” status.

The Reuters newswire is running an interesting explainer on why Russia is trying to capture the Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar.

Here are some extracts:

Russian paratroopers have reached the eastern edge of the Ukrainian town, which Kyiv’s top commander says Moscow wants taken by 9 May, the date when Russia marks the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. If Russian forces capture the town, 12 km (7.4 miles) from the centre of the devastated city of Bakhmut they took last May after months of bloody fighting, they would be able to launch direct offensives against several Ukrainian “fortress cities.” Russian military analysts list Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Kostiantynivka as the “fortress cities” in Ukraine’s east accessible from Chasiv Yar. The Washington-based Institute for War Studies (IWS) think-tank describes the cities as “the backbone” of the Ukrainian army’s defence in the east. “The offensive effort to seize Chasiv Yar offers Russian forces the most immediate prospects for operationally significant advances,” ISW said in a briefing note. The ISW warned that losing Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka in particular would be a major operational setback that would be hard to reverse.

A ballet performance in South Korea featuring dancers from Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet was cancelled abruptly, the organisers confirmed to AFP on Tuesday, amid growing tensions between Seoul and Moscow over Ukraine and North Korea.

The Russian embassy in Seoul expressed its “deep regret” over the cancellation of the show – scheduled to open 16 April – which comes after another planned performance in Seoul featuring Russia’s top ballet dancer Svetlana Zakharova was axed in March.

Ukraine said the show had been cancelled after a lobbying campaign by its local embassy. “Russian ‘cultural’ propaganda should have no place on international platforms,” it added on an official Telegram account.

But the South Korean organiser Choi Jun-seok, who studied at Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet Academy, told AFP that while Kyiv’s embassy had requested he cancel the show, the final decision was made by the venue, Seoul’s Sejong Centre for the Performing Arts.

Summary of the day so far...

In a wide-ranging interview with PBS NewsHour , Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy , said a lack of air defence missiles prevented Ukraine from thwarting a Russian missile attack last week that destroyed the Trypilska thermal power plant . His comments gave fresh urgency to Kyiv’s pleas to be sent more military weapons from its allies as the war appears to have turned in the Kremlin’s favour over recent months.

Ukraine says it 'ran out of missiles' to stop Russian strike destroying power plant

A lack of air defence missiles prevented Ukraine from thwarting a Russian missile attack last week that destroyed the biggest power plant in the region around Kyiv, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy , said.

Trypilska thermal power plant was destroyed in a strike last month. It was the biggest energy facility near Kyiv and was built to have a capacity of 1,800 megawatts, more than the prewar needs of Ukraine’s biggest city. Other stations and imports have filled the gap for now but residents have been urged to save power.

“There were 11 missiles flying. We destroyed the first seven, and four (remaining) destroyed Trypillia. Why? Because there were zero missiles. We ran out of missiles to defend Trypillia,” Zelenskiy said in an interview with PBS .

He warned earlier this month that Ukraine, which has reported ongoing ammunition shortages, could run out of air defence missiles if Russia keeps up its intense long-range bombing campaign.

It followed weeks of Russian strikes on the energy infrastructure, towns and cities using a vast arsenal of missiles and drones. Western allies have been reluctant to send additional air defences to Ukraine, which says it needs 25 Patriot systems to cover its territory properly. Germany has pledged to deliver another system after urgent calls from Kyiv.

Zelenskiy said in the PBS NewsHour interview:

It’s a lot to preserve ourselves. It’s very difficult for us. We are fighting against a large army. They don’t care about their soldiers’ lives. They’re not training them. They’re not as trained as our soldiers. But there’s a lot of them. They have an unlimited number of people and a lot of shells. They use thousands of drones against us. Tell me, please, how can you fight against these thousands if you don’t have weapons to take them down? They have aircraft taking off from Crimea and engaging us at a distance of over 300 kilometers. It could be over 300, 400, 500 kilometers, depending on how deep they’re targeting from Crimea. How can we destroy those? The plan is very simple. It’s very clear. It exists. There is a specific weapon that we need to advance. There’s a specific weapon to defend the skies. This plan exists. Besides, all the partners have it in their hands. This is the plan for what we really need.

Mike Johnson, the US House speaker, has faced mounting pressure to act on Joe Biden’s long-delayed request for billions of dollars in security assistance for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. It’s been more than two months since the Senate passed the $95bn aid package , which includes $60bn for Ukraine.

The Republican speaker huddled with fellow GOP lawmakers on Monday evening to lay out his strategy to gain House approval for the funding package.

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Poland's president becomes the latest leader to visit Donald Trump as allies eye a possible return

Former President Donald Trump met in New York with Polish President Andrzej Duda

NEW YORK -- Former President Donald Trump met Wednesday in New York with Polish President Andrzej Duda, the latest in a series of meetings with foreign leaders as Europe braces for the possibility of a second Trump term.

The presumptive Republican nominee hosted Duda at Trump Tower, where the two discussed the war in Ukraine and Duda’s push to boost NATO members’ defense spending, according to a readout from Trump’s campaign. Duda, who has long expressed admiration for Trump, is also a staunch supporter of Ukraine and has encouraged Washington to provide more aid to Kyiv amid Russian's ongoing invasion. That funding has been held up by Trump allies in Congress.

As he arrived, Trump praised the Polish president, saying, “He's done a fantastic job and he’s my friend.”

“We had four great years together," Trump added. “We’re behind Poland all the way."

Following the almost 2 1/2 hour meeting, Duda said only that it was a “friendly meeting in very nice atmosphere.”

His aide, Wojciech Kolarski, also in attendance, described it as an “excellent meeting” of “two friends who reminisced on the time when for four years they cooperated while holding presidential offices," a time that was "very fruitful for Polish-U.S. relations."

Duda is the latest foreign leader to meet with Trump in the weeks since he locked up the Republican nomination. U.S. allies across the world were caught off guard by Trump’s surprise 2016 win, forcing them to scramble to build relationships with a president who often attacked longstanding treaties and alliances they valued. Setting up meetings with him during the 2024 campaign suggests they don't want to be behind again.

Even as he goes on trial for one of the four criminal indictments against him, Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden are locked in a rematch that most observers expect will be exceedingly close in November.

While some in Poland worried the visit might damage the country’s relationship with Biden, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. — a Biden ally and a major voice in his party on foreign affairs — said such meetings make sense.

“The polls are close,” he said. “If I were a foreign leader — and there’s a precedent attached to meeting with candidates who are nominated or on the path to being nominated — I’d probably do it too.”

Murphy noted that former President Barack Obama did a lengthy international tour and met with foreign leaders when he first ran for the White House. So did Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who challenged Obama in 2012 and whose trip included a stop in Poland's capital, Warsaw.

Duda’s visit comes a week after Trump met with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, another NATO member and key proponent of supporting Ukraine, at the former president’s Florida estate.

In March, Trump hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an autocrat who has maintained the closest relationship with Russia among European Union countries. Orbán shared a montage of footage of the visit on his Instagram feed, which included an image of him and his staff meeting with Trump and the former president’s aides in a scene that looked like an official bilateral meeting.

Trump also met briefly in February with Javier Milei, the fiery, right-wing populist president of Argentina who ran a campaign inspired by Trump, complete with red “Make Argentina Great Again” hats. Milei gave Trump an excited hug backstage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, according to video posted by a Trump campaign aide.

Biden administration officials have been careful not to weigh in publicly on foreign leaders’ meetings with Trump, acknowledging he has a real chance of winning the race.

While some officials have privately expressed frustration with such meetings, they are mindful that any criticism would open the U.S. to charges of hypocrisy because senior American officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meet frequently with foreign opposition figures at various forums in the United States and abroad.

Security and policy officials monitor the travel plans of foreign officials visiting the U.S., but generally don’t have a say in where they go or with whom they meet, according to an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss protocol.

Trump has been back in his hometown this week for the start of his criminal hush money trial, which has dramatically limited his ability to travel and campaign. While in town, aides have been planning a series of events that began Tuesday evening when Trump, after court adjourned, stopped by a Harlem bodega where a man was killed to rail against crime, and to blast the district attorney who made him the first former president in U.S. history to stand criminal trial.

Duda, a right-wing populist who once proposed naming a military base in his country “Fort Trump," described the dinner earlier Wednesday as a private get-together between friends at Trump's former residence while he is in town for meetings at the United Nations, where Duda is to deliver a speech.

“I have been invited by Mr. Donald Trump to his private apartment," Duda told reporters, saying it was “a normal practice when one country has good relations with another country” to want those relations to be as strong as "possible with the representatives of various sides of the political stage.”

“We know each other as people. Like two, I can say in some way, friends," said Duda, whose term ends in 2025.

Duda's visit comes as House Republicans wrangle over a $95 billion foreign aid bill that would provide new funding to Ukraine, including money for the U.S. military to replace depleting weapon supplies. Polish leaders have been urging the House to approve the aid bill and ease domestic concerns.

Many Trump allies in the House are fiercely opposed to aiding Ukraine, even as the country warns that it is struggling amid a fresh Russian offensive. Trump has said he might be open to aid in the form of a loan.

One area where Trump and Duda agree when it comes to the conflict is a desire to push NATO members to increase their defense spending. Duda has called on fellow members of the alliance to raise their spending to 3% of gross domestic product as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. That would represent a significant increase from the current commitment of 2% by 2024.

Trump, in a stunning break from U.S. precedent, has long been critical of the Western alliance and has threatened not to defend member nations that do not hit that spending goal. That threat strikes at the heart of the alliance's Article 5, which states that any attack against one NATO member will be considered an attack against all.

In February, Trump went even further, recounting that he'd once told leaders that he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to members that are — in his words — “delinquent.”

Trump's campaign said the two discussed the NATO proposal during the meeting. The two also discussed Israel and the Middle East, Trump's 2017 trip to Warsaw, “and many other topics having to do with getting to world peace,” the campaign said in its readout, which described the men as “great friends.”

The visit was met with mixed reaction in Poland, where fears of Russia run high and Duda’s friendly relationship with Trump has been a source of controversy.

Poland’s centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Duda, was critical of the dinner but expressed hope that Duda would use it as an opportunity “to raise the issue of clearly siding with the Western world, democracy and Europe in this Ukrainian-Russian conflict.”

Scislowska reported from Warsaw. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Zeke Miller and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.

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Poland’s president becomes the latest leader to visit Donald Trump as allies eye a possible return

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump meets with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump greets Poland’s President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

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NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump met Wednesday in New York with Polish President Andrzej Duda , the latest in a series of meetings with foreign leaders as Europe braces for the possibility of a second Trump term.

The presumptive Republican nominee hosted Duda at Trump Tower, where the two discussed the war in Ukraine and Duda’s push to boost NATO members’ defense spending, according to a readout from Trump’s campaign. Duda, who has long expressed admiration for Trump, is also a staunch supporter of Ukraine and has encouraged Washington to provide more aid to Kyiv amid Russian’s ongoing invasion . That funding has been held up by Trump allies in Congress.

As he arrived, Trump praised the Polish president, saying, “He’s done a fantastic job and he’s my friend.”

“We had four great years together,” Trump added. “We’re behind Poland all the way.”

Following the almost 2 1/2 hour meeting, Duda said only that it was a “friendly meeting in very nice atmosphere.”

His aide, Wojciech Kolarski, also in attendance, described it as an “excellent meeting” of “two friends who reminisced on the time when for four years they cooperated while holding presidential offices,” a time that was “very fruitful for Polish-U.S. relations.”

Duda is the latest foreign leader to meet with Trump in the weeks since he locked up the Republican nomination. U.S. allies across the world were caught off guard by Trump’s surprise 2016 win, forcing them to scramble to build relationships with a president who often attacked longstanding treaties and alliances they valued. Setting up meetings with him during the 2024 campaign suggests they don’t want to be behind again.

Even as he goes on trial for one of the four criminal indictments against him, Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden are locked in a rematch that most observers expect will be exceedingly close in November.

While some in Poland worried the visit might damage the country’s relationship with Biden, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. — a Biden ally and a major voice in his party on foreign affairs — said such meetings make sense.

“The polls are close,” he said. “If I were a foreign leader — and there’s a precedent attached to meeting with candidates who are nominated or on the path to being nominated — I’d probably do it too.”

Murphy noted that former President Barack Obama did a lengthy international tour and met with foreign leaders when he first ran for the White House. So did Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who challenged Obama in 2012 and whose trip included a stop in Poland’s capital, Warsaw.

Duda’s visit comes a week after Trump met with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, another NATO member and key proponent of supporting Ukraine, at the former president’s Florida estate.

In March, Trump hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán , an autocrat who has maintained the closest relationship with Russia among European Union countries. Orbán shared a montage of footage of the visit on his Instagram feed, which included an image of him and his staff meeting with Trump and the former president’s aides in a scene that looked like an official bilateral meeting.

Trump also met briefly in February with Javier Milei, the fiery, right-wing populist president of Argentina who ran a campaign inspired by Trump , complete with red “Make Argentina Great Again” hats. Milei gave Trump an excited hug backstage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, according to video posted by a Trump campaign aide.

Biden administration officials have been careful not to weigh in publicly on foreign leaders’ meetings with Trump, acknowledging he has a real chance of winning the race.

While some officials have privately expressed frustration with such meetings, they are mindful that any criticism would open the U.S. to charges of hypocrisy because senior American officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meet frequently with foreign opposition figures at various forums in the United States and abroad.

Security and policy officials monitor the travel plans of foreign officials visiting the U.S., but generally don’t have a say in where they go or with whom they meet, according to an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss protocol.

Trump has been back in his hometown this week for the start of his criminal hush money trial , which has dramatically limited his ability to travel and campaign. While in town, aides have been planning a series of events that began Tuesday evening when Trump, after court adjourned, stopped by a Harlem bodega where a man was killed to rail against crime, and to blast the district attorney who made him the first former president in U.S. history to stand criminal trial.

Duda, a right-wing populist who once proposed naming a military base in his country “Fort Trump,” described the dinner earlier Wednesday as a private get-together between friends at Trump’s former residence while he is in town for meetings at the United Nations, where Duda is to deliver a speech.

“I have been invited by Mr. Donald Trump to his private apartment,” Duda told reporters, saying it was “a normal practice when one country has good relations with another country” to want those relations to be as strong as “possible with the representatives of various sides of the political stage.”

“We know each other as people. Like two, I can say in some way, friends,” said Duda, whose term ends in 2025.

Duda’s visit comes as House Republicans wrangle over a $95 billion foreign aid bill that would provide new funding to Ukraine, including money for the U.S. military to replace depleting weapon supplies. Polish leaders have been urging the House to approve the aid bill and ease domestic concerns.

Many Trump allies in the House are fiercely opposed to aiding Ukraine, even as the country warns that it is struggling amid a fresh Russian offensive . Trump has said he might be open to aid in the form of a loan.

One area where Trump and Duda agree when it comes to the conflict is a desire to push NATO members to increase their defense spending. Duda has called on fellow members of the alliance to raise their spending to 3% of gross domestic product as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. That would represent a significant increase from the current commitment of 2% by 2024.

Trump, in a stunning break from U.S. precedent, has long been critical of the Western alliance and has threatened not to defend member nations that do not hit that spending goal. That threat strikes at the heart of the alliance’s Article 5 , which states that any attack against one NATO member will be considered an attack against all.

In February, Trump went even further, recounting that he’d once told leaders that he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to members that are — in his words — “delinquent.”

Trump’s campaign said the two discussed the NATO proposal during the meeting. The two also discussed Israel and the Middle East, Trump’s 2017 trip to Warsaw, “and many other topics having to do with getting to world peace,” the campaign said in its readout, which described the men as “great friends.”

The visit was met with mixed reaction in Poland , where fears of Russia run high and Duda’s friendly relationship with Trump has been a source of controversy.

Poland’s centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Duda, was critical of the dinner but expressed hope that Duda would use it as an opportunity “to raise the issue of clearly siding with the Western world, democracy and Europe in this Ukrainian-Russian conflict.”

Scislowska reported from Warsaw. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Zeke Miller and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.