Polish foreign minister to Speaker Johnson on Ukraine: ‘The credibility of your country is at stake’ 

Poland’s foreign minister on Sunday doubled down on his push for the United States to support Ukraine, claiming he would tell House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) the “fate” of the war-torn nation and “credibility” of the United States are at stake.

Asked on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” what he would say to Johnson if he had the chance to talk to him, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said, “I would say as a former Speaker to a current Speaker, I would say, Mr. Speaker, it is the fate of Ukraine, it is the tortured people of Ukraine that beg you, but it is also the credibility of your country that is at stake.”

“The president of the United States in wartime went to Kyiv on his historic visit, planted the standard of the United States in downtown Kyiv, saying, ‘You are an ally, we will do whatever it takes, and for however long it takes to help you,'” Sikorski continued. “The word of the United States has been spoken. It needs to be followed up with action, with deliveries.”

Johnson is facing mounting pressure to pass a stalled foreign aid package that includes $60 billion in aid for Ukraine’s fight against Russia. The Senate passed the $95 billion emergency defense spending bill earlier this month, nearly four months after President Biden sent his request to Congress to fund Kyiv.

The legislation, however, faces an uncertain path in the House, where Johnson has indicated he would not put it up for a vote, as it lacks border security measures demanded by House GOP members.

Aid for the Eastern European nation has been left in limbo for nearly a year amid increasing division among lawmakers; Congress has not passed a bill with funding for Ukraine since the end of 2022, when a Democratic majority passed its fourth package for the nation.

Sikorski on Sunday underscored the stakes of Ukraine’s continued fight against Russia and claimed Ukrainians “are now in defense mode” after victories over Russia cost its forces material and additional men.

“I was in Kyiv in December and I talked to my Ukrainian counterparts all the time. Around Avdiivka, they were outgunned in artillery 8-to-1,” he said Sunday. “So they’re doing close-quarter combat, which is why people are dying in greater numbers than they should be, because of the shortage of arms, and the shortage of arms is because the supplemental hasn’t yet passed.”

Poland, a border nation of Ukraine, has remained a steadfast supporter of the country’s fight against Russia in the nearly two years since Moscow launched its invasion.