On October 12-14 this year, Deputy Prime Minister Mariusz Błaszczak participates in the meeting of NATO states’ defense ministers, which is held at the North Atlantic Alliance Headquarters in Brussels.

The discussion concerns the security situation, Russia's attack on Ukraine, and increasing the security of critical infrastructure of the Alliance countries. Defense ministers will also talk of increasing support for Ukraine and further strengthening NATO's defense in the context of the largest escalation of Russian hostilities since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

“Russia's victory would be a real threat to NATO's eastern flank countries. This is nothing new. We have been warning of it for years. I am glad that our allies from Western Europe have reached such an assessment. The silver lining of this whole situation is that our evaluation of the threats posed by Putin's attempts to recreate the Russian Empire is considered and shared by the Allies. Most importantly, by the United States. There is no doubt that if it were not for the American approach, then probably allies such as Germany or France would have approached these threats differently. I also would like to emphasize that Poland’s role was appreciated by American commanders (...) Polish involvement in the process of strengthening Ukraine was highly noticed"

- said Deputy Prime Minister Błaszczak once the works of the Contact Group were concluded.

The NATO ministerial meeting scheduled for Thursday was preceded by a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group chaired by Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of Defense, with the participation of representatives of several dozen countries. The current military situation in Ukraine was assessed during the donors' conference. Military support for Ukraine and long-term plans in this respect were discussed. The talks included also the development of training and reconstruction of Ukraine.

Deputy Prime Minister Błaszczak announced that Poland will soon be joining the group of European Union countries that train Ukrainian troops.

“In my speech, I emphasized the fact, which is now public, that the European Union mission to train Ukrainians will be held in Poland. A vital operational command will be soon deployed in Poland"

– he said.

On Wednesday, in Brussels, took place a bilateral meeting between Deputy Prime Minister M. Błaszczak and his Ukrainian counterpart O. Reznikov.

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Poland remains one of the most active donor countries supporting Ukraine, both in terms of aid for residents and supplying military equipment. The total value of Polish donations is estimated at 1.7 billion USD.

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On Friday, October 14, the head of the Ministry of National Defense will take part in the meeting of B9 Group defense ministers attended by the US Secretary of Defense. It will be devoted to the security situation on NATO's eastern flank, support for Ukraine, and the modernization of the armed forces. The cooperation in the Bucharest Nine format was initiated in 2014. It is co-chaired by Poland and Romania. Meetings are held at various levels (presidents, ministers of foreign affairs and defense). B9's activity focuses on issues related to threats to NATO's eastern flank, methods of combating them, and seeking opportunities for cooperation between the countries of the region.