U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Warsaw strengthens Poland’s position in the European Union, Polish President Andrzej Duda said Thursday.

Trump and Duda are to speak to reporters Thursday morning after their meeting at the Royal Castle.

It also strengthened Poland’s defense. Wednesday night, the U.S. agreed to sell Patriot missile defense systems to Poland in a memorandum, Poland’s Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said.

“A memorandum was signed tonight that the U.S. government has agreed to sell Poland Patriot missiles in the most modern configuration,” Macierewicz said in a news conference broadcast on public television Thursday morning.

“I am glad that I can pass on this information on the day of President’s Trump visit to Warsaw,” Macierewicz added.

Trump arrived Wednesday in Warsaw where the White House said he would showcase his commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in a speech and in meetings with a group of nations closest to Russia on his way to the G20 summit in Germany Friday and Saturday.

“This is the second foreign visit by president Trump and it starts in Poland. This shows we are a country that matters and it strengthens our position in the European Union,” Duda said Thursday on public radio.

In March Poland said it expected to sign a deal worth up to $7.6 billion with U.S. firm Raytheon to buy eight Patriot missile defense systems by the end of the year. Warsaw sees the deal as central to a thorough modernization of its armed forces by 2023.

 
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