(19 FORTY FIVE) – On Monday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced Warsaw would deliver military assistance to Ukraine as it faces Russian forces massing on its border for what looks like preparation for a possible invasion.
Poland’s assistance would come in the form of Grom man-portable air defense missiles, drones of unspecified type, “tens of thousands of” artillery rounds, and light mortar systems. Furthermore, Warsaw was furnishing 132 tons of humanitarian assistance (medical supplies, 2 million masks, bedding), and was ready to provide economic aid to Kyiv, particularly pertaining to gas supplies.
The military aid is not significant enough in scale to deter Putin. That is likely true even of the over 2,000 advanced NLAW and hundreds of Javelin anti-tank missiles furnished by United Kingdom, United States and Estonia to Ukraine. However, it does signal to Moscow that in event of a protracted conflict in Ukraine, Warsaw might maintain a lifeline of arms and logistical support to Kyiv, raising the potential cost to Russia.
