Britain to send 150 troops to Poland in the face of Putin threat as it bids to secure the country as a key ally in Brexit talks

Theresa May to roll out diplomatic red carpet for counterpart Beata Szydlo
The UK is set to pledge to help protect Poland against Russian aggression
Summit between countries  is bid to secure Poland as key ally post-Brexit
PM to reaffirm commitment to allow Polish citizens living in the UK to stay
Theresa May will today pledge to send 150 troops to Poland to help secure the country as a key ally in Brexit talks.
The Prime Minister will roll out the diplomatic red carpet for her counterpart Beata Szydlo – pledging to help protect Poland against Russian aggression.
Mrs May is also expected to reaffirm her commitment to getting an early deal on allowing Polish citizens living in the UK to stay, once Britain leaves the Brussels club.
The summit between the two countries, which will include the Chancellor and Foreign Secretary, is unprecedented, and could put noses out of joint elsewhere in the EU.
The Prime Minister said last night that the meeting emphasized ‘common ground we share, the importance we attach to our bilateral relationship and the benefits it brings.
She said: ‘We share a clear commitment to take our co-operation to the next level and to firmly establish the UK and Poland as resolute and strategic allies.
'We will never forget the Polish pilots who braved the skies alongside us during World War Two … nor the valuable contribution made by so many Poles in our country today.
'I am determined that Brexit will not weaken our relationship … rather it will serve as a catalyst to strengthen it.’
Mrs May will set out details of the deployment of about 150 troops from the Light Dragoons regiment in Catterick, as well as a number of armoured vehicles, to Orzysz in north-east Poland in April next year.
This is close to the border with the Russian exclave Kaliningrad – where senior Moscow officials last week said they would send nuclear-capable surface-to-air missiles with a range that could reach Berlin.
The number of troops is small compared with Putin’s army, but is intended to ‘reassure’ Poland of the UK’s commitment to the Nato alliance.
It follows comments earlier this year by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, who said sending troops to Poland would help to ‘deter Russia from any further aggression’.
Defence is expected to be top of the list of concerns at a working lunch in London during the summit.
The two leaders will then host a press conference and hold a Downing Street reception to pay tribute to the contribution made by Poles in the UK.
Other EU leaders will be watching closely for any indication that Brexit was discussed in detail. Brussels has banned member states from formally negotiating with the UK until article 50 is triggered in March next year. Whitehall officials believe Poland could be a crucial ally – as a counterbalance to hostility from the likes of France.
The Prime Minister will also reiterate her strong condemnation of the attacks against Poles in the wake of the referendum result, underlining that hate crime of any kind has absolutely no place in British society.
Last night, the EU’s top negotiator was criticised by 80 MPs for his ‘inhumane’ refusal to guarantee the rights of British citizens living in Poland and other EU countries.
The MPs, 70 of them Tory, accused Michel Barnier of being ‘worryingly indifferent’ to the ‘anxiety and uncertainty’ being caused.
There are an estimated 3.3million EU nationals living in Britain – and roughly 1.2 million Britons living in the 27 other EU countries.
Mrs May has said she wants to give EU citizens settled in Britain the right to stay. But she says this is not possible until the EU has done the same for UK nationals living abroad.
Mr Barnier is refusing to hold talks on this or any other matter until next March when article 50 is formerly triggered.
In their letter to European Council president Donald Tusk, the MPs suggested the families and livelihoods of European expatriates were being ‘held hostage’.