Polish Deputy Defense Minister Discusses Polish-American Talks After CIA Chief's NATO Visit

Polish Deputy Defense Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka has indicated that significant Polish-American discussions are on the horizon, following a recent visit by CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Moscow. The upcoming meeting in Brussels will see Deputy Defense Secretary Elbridge Colby engage with Polish official Paweł Zalewski, with the sensitive topic of Ratcliffe's Moscow trip potentially being addressed.

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There are many media speculations today. (...) The last such visit took place before Russia's attack on Ukraine (in the autumn of 2021, the then-head of the CIA, William Burns, flew to Moscow for a meeting with Vladimir Putin), so associations naturally arise.

American media reports, including those from "The Washington Post" and Politico, suggested Ratcliffe's visit was a warning to Russia against attacking NATO, possibly targeting the Baltic states. However, former President Donald Trump has denied these reports, suggesting the visit was related to negotiations concerning the war in Ukraine.

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We remain in contact with American services, these are very good relations.

Sobkowiak-Czarnecka emphasized the strong working relationship between Polish and U.S. intelligence services, urging against speculation and stressing the importance of focusing on factual information. She noted that while many media speculations exist, "what counts are the facts."

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There is no point in speculating about the whole matter, because facts count.

The Deputy Minister also addressed concerns about Russian escalation, referencing a recent incident where an armed Russian missile entered Polish airspace. She stated that Russia is consistently testing NATO's unity and its partners' commitment to collective defense. This, she explained, is Russia's method of probing how far it can go before provoking a reaction, particularly after the incursion of an armed missile into NATO territory, a first of its kind.

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Russia is primarily trying to test NATO's unity, i.e., how far it can go before a reaction occurs.