The White House reportedly sought to temper expectations of Vice President Kamala Harris’s trip to Poland, noting she’s not there to broker deals after the U.S. was caught off guard by the country’s push to send fighter jets to Ukraine.
Rather, according to a report from Politico citing White House officials, Harris’s presence in Poland – and subsequently Romania – is to serve as a sort of diplomatic representative and “emblem” of the administration’s commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“But administration officials say she’s not there to make any deals, whether it be on humanitarian aid or the transfer of military equipment,” Politico reported Wednesday evening. “Instead, her role is to serve as an emissary and an emblem of the administration’s commitment to the country and the trans-Atlantic alliance more broadly.”
Huh: “WH officials say [Harris is] not in Poland to make any deals, whether it be on humanitarian aid or the transfer of military equipment. Instead, her role is to serve as an emissary and an emblem of the administration’s commitment to the country” https://t.co/cA3Ui1hr2F
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) March 10, 2022
The White House’s clarification of Harris’s mission in Poland comes after Poland issued a surprise proposal Tuesday. (RELATED: Newt Gingrich Rips ‘Lack Of Seriousness’ In Biden Admin By Sending Kamala Harris On Diplomatic Trip)
“The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Government, are ready to deploy — immediately and free of charge — all their MiG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America,” Poland announced in a press release.
“At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes,” the statement added. “The Polish Government also requests other NATO Allies – owners of MiG-29 jets – to act in the same vein.”
While Pentagon spokesman John Kirby issued a lengthy statement hours later rejecting Poland’s proposal, and there were never official suggestions that Harris would be attempting to broker a deal, the debacle did bring more of a spotlight to Harris’s trip.
“We have been in dialogue with the Poles for some time about how best to provide a variety of security assistance to Ukraine,” a senior administration official noted during a call with reporters prior to the vice president’s trip. “And that’s a dialogue that absolutely will continue up to and as part of the vice president’s trip.”
“This is a key priority for us and for all of our NATO allies,” the official continued, according to CNN. “And so, we expect that we will continue talking about how to achieve this really important objective. A number of people have had a variety of ideas and we think all of them are worth discussing and that’s what we’re going to continue doing.”