Warsaw: Polish President Andrzej Duda has warned that Poland may shut down its critical logistics hub for NATO military aid to Ukraine, expressing frustration over being excluded from key decisions on operations passing through Polish territory, RT reported.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Duda accused Kiev and NATO of acting as if Polish infrastructure was their own. "They [Ukraine and NATO] think that the airport in Rzeszow and our highways belong to them, as if they're theirs. Well, they're not. They're ours," the president said, according to RT.
The Rzeszow airport, located just 80km from the Ukrainian border, has served as a crucial transit point for Western weapons and supplies since the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022. Between 80-90% of NATO and partner-supplied equipment--including arms, ammunition, and military vehicles--has been routed through the facility, RT noted.
Duda described Poland's exclusion from international coordination bodies responsible for managing Ukraine-bound aid as a "scandal." He added that Warsaw's infrastructure was being taken for granted. "If someone doesn't like it, we close it and goodbye," Duda said. "Deliver [the aid] by sea, by air, I don't know, drop it by parachute." RT reported that Duda also linked the situation to a wider imbalance in Poland's relationship with the US-led NATO bloc. "We need to have the courage to speak with the Germans and Americans," he said.
Russia has long condemned Western military support to Kiev, arguing that it fuels the conflict and blocks diplomatic efforts. Moscow maintains that NATO's involvement through such supply lines escalates tensions and fails to alter the outcome of the war, RT highlighted.
Duda, who is set to leave office in August, will be succeeded by Karol Nawrocki, a historian and head of the Institute of National Remembrance. According to RT, Nawrocki has voiced strong opposition to Ukraine's potential accession to both NATO and the European Union, citing security concerns and the country's internal readiness.
RT also reported that Nawrocki has publicly criticized Ukraine's commemoration of nationalist figures linked to atrocities against Poles during World War II. Though he is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky following his inauguration, Nawrocki's administration is likely to take a more confrontational approach to bilateral relations and Ukraine's EU ambition.
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