Trump meets with Polish President Duda to discuss Ukraine, other foreign policy issues

Former U.S. President and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump met with Polish President Andrzej Duda in New York City on April 17, where the two held talks on a variety of foreign policy issues.

According to a statement by the Trump campaign, the two-and-a-half-hour meeting took place at Trump's apartment in Trump Tower.

The statement said that chief among the issues broached by Trump and Duda was the reported proposal from the Polish president for NATO countries to increase their spending to 3% of GDP.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in February that he expected 18 of the then 31 alliance members to meet the goal of spending at least 2% of their GDP on defense in 2024.

Trump and Duda also "discussed the war between Russia and Ukraine, the conflict with Israel in the Middle East, and many other topics having to do with getting to world peace," the statement read.

Trump has long pushed for NATO countries to increase their defense spending and unsettled international allies in February when he said he would allow Russia to do "whatever the hell they want" to member countries failing to meet defense spending criteria.

The statement by the Trump campaign added that the former president "is a big fan of Poland and of the Polish people."

Read also: Trump reportedly thought Ukraine ‘must be part of Russia’ as president

We’ve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.