POLAND has welcomed President Joe Biden’s commitment to establish the US Fifth Army’s headquarters in the country as a clear signal of deterrence to Russia.

“It is a success which comes from long and consistent negotiations on this matter and, at the same time, a very clear sign that the Americans intend to increase, not decrease, their presence in Poland,” Jakub Kumoch, foreign policy adviser to President Andrzej Duda, said today.

He was speaking after Mr Biden’s announcement that more troops would be stationed in Poland, which was made as Nato adopted a tough stance towards Russia at a summit of the military alliance in Madrid. 

“Something that seemed impossible to many is becoming a fact today,” Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz said. 

“We have a permanent US presence in Poland … It is also a clear signal to Moscow.”

Warsaw has been forceful in its opposition to Russia’s war in neighbouring Ukraine, with the populist government even suggesting that it was willing to host US nuclear missiles. 

In 2018, it proposed naming a military base after former US president Donald Trump in return for the establishment of a permanent presence.