Polish and US presidents Andrzej Duda and Joe Biden started a meeting in the Polish city of Rzeszow near the Polish-Ukrainian border, according to broadcast by Polish Television, TASS reports.
The meeting was delayed for more than two hours because the Polish leader’s plane had to make an emergency landing in Warsaw.
The welcoming ceremony for the US president didn’t take place at the airfield as planned, but instead happened before the meeting with the representatives of humanitarian organizations that help Ukrainian refugees.
Earlier, a representative of Duda's chancellery in charge of international affairs, Jakub Kumoch, said that Duda's plane, when on its way to Rzeszow, made an emergency landing in Warsaw due to a breakdown. After that, the delegation resumed the flight on a backup plane. As a result, Duda arrived at Rzeszow an hour late. The welcoming ceremony for the US leader had to be postponed.
Biden stayed in his Air Force One for about 40 minutes after landing, then got off the plane and greeted the representatives of the Polish leadership and armed forces who were there to meet him. He subsequently got into his car and left the airport a few minutes before the Polish president’s plane landed.
The US president later met with US soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division that are stationed in Rzeszow, talked to some of them and thanked them for their service in the region. Biden also visited the soldiers' cafeteria where he was treated to pizza.
President Duda on arrival at Rzeszow also first met with the servicemen of Poland’s 18th Mechanized Division that are serving in the country’s southeast.
