UPDATE - 'US will defend every inch of NATO,' Kamala Harris tells Polish leader

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS BY POLISH PRESIDENT, US VICE PRESIDENT; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) - As Russia’s war on Ukraine, at NATO’s doorstep, enters its third week, “the US is prepared to defend every inch of NATO territory,” said the US vice president in Warsaw on Thursday.

“The US takes seriously that an attack on one is an attack on all,” Kamala Harris told a joint news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in the country’s capital, referring to the famous Article 5 of the NATO Charter that Harris described as “ironclad.”

“What is at stake this very moment, are some of the guiding principles around the NATO Alliance, and in particular, the issue on the importance of defending sovereignty and territorial integrity in this case of Ukraine,” Harris stressed.

Amid a war that shows “atrocities of unimaginable proportion,” relations between the US and Poland have grown even stronger, she added, one day after a Russian attack devastated a maternity hospital in Ukraine.

“We will do everything together in partnership in solidarity, to support what is necessary at this very moment in terms of the humanitarian and security needs of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” she noted.

“We have recently deployed an additional 4,700 American troops to Poland. That's on top of the years of rotation of about 5,000 American troops in Poland,” she said, adding that the US is going to provide equipment support to Poland, as well.

Lamenting that the Ukrainian people “have suffered immensely,” Harris underscored: “When we talk about humanitarian aid, it is because just the assistance is necessary.”

“But what compels us also is the moral outrage that all civilized nations feel when we look at what is happening to innocent men, women, children, grandmothers, grandfathers who are fleeing everything they've known,” she emphasized.

“Our outrage which compels not only our security assistance, but our humanitarian assistance is rooted in the fact that also we support the people of Ukraine who have shown extraordinary courage and skill and their willingness and yes, ability to fight against Putin’s war and Russia's aggression.

“So today, we are also announcing in pursuit of what must happen which is to provide humanitarian assistance, that we will give another $50 billion -- the US will -- through the UN's World Food Program to assist with humanitarian aid,” she said.

Pointing out the Ukrainian refugees that Poland has received to date, Harris said this “has put an extraordinary burden on Poland and the people of Poland.”

The US will keep supporting Poland on the issue, she noted, thanking Poland for what it has been “doing to bear this burden, but in a way that really has been with such grace and such generosity.”

“There is a commitment now of $13.6 billion in humanitarian and security assistance that will be then distributed and shared with Ukraine and the people of this region and Europe,” she said, referring to the US authorities’ recent decision.

“... all again, understanding that this moment in time requires both humanitarian response as well as security assistance,” she underlined.

Harris said “this is a moment that requires severe and swift consequence for Russia's aggression against Ukraine," and added: "... we stand with the people of Ukraine that we admire their courage and that we are aligned in our support of their sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

- Characteristics of ‘genocide’

For his part, Duda started his speech by thanking Harris, President Joe Biden, and the members of the US Congress for the “imposition of effective sanctions on the Russian Federation,” adding that these sanctions are “working.”

He also thanked for the support, humanitarian assistance, and medical aid provided by the US to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

The Polish president also mentioned the refugee flow from Ukraine that Poland has been facing as his country borders Ukraine to the east, emphasizing that the number of Ukrainian refugees that his country has received “is close to 1.5 million” -- more than any other country.

Duda also recalled that he asked Harris for support about the “huge refugee crisis,” which is actually “a surprise and a complicated situation for Poland” to handle on its own.

*“We have to rescue Ukraine, all of us are aware of that. All hands should be on board,” he noted. “Ukraine needs to be helped and we have to stay united, we need to stand together in this respect.”

“We have to impose more sanctions on Russia. We cannot accept such military activities, which are the characteristics and features of genocide.

“I don’t think that anybody is in doubt if hospitals are bombed with pregnant women are staying, with children are staying, when ordinary people are being killed, when bombs are dropped, when missiles are launched into residential houses where there are no military installations, then this is an act of barbarity and bearing these features of a genocide,” he underscored.

“It aims at eliminating and destroying a nation,” Duda stressed, saying: “We have to present a very tough stance here as representatives of the free world.”

Mentioning that Poland stands together with the US, he added: “All our allies stand with Ukraine, and all the honest authorities, and states, especially democratic states.”

Duda also mentioned that his country wants a security boost, as well.

Harris’ visit also came as part of efforts to heal a rift after the US rejected a plan for Poland to supply jet fighters to Ukraine using the US as an intermediary.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global companies from Russia.

At least 516 civilians have been killed and 908 others injured in Ukraine so far, according to UN figures, with the real toll feared to be higher.

More than 2.3 million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the UN refugee agency.