WARSAW

The US will provide Poland with eight Apache helicopters until Warsaw receives its own units, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak confirmed Saturday.

"The US army will provide Poland with Apache helicopters from its own resources, even before signing the contract for the purchase of 96 helicopters," Blaszczak said in Washington after meeting US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Friday.

Last year, Poland expressed its desire to purchase 96 AH-64 Apache helicopters, though it is unclear when the deliveries could take place.

The US ground forces will provide Poland with eight Apaches, and the training of Polish pilots is set to begin in a few weeks. The helicopters will go to eastern Poland next year, Blaszczak said.

Having Apaches is important because they work well will with Abrams tanks, which Warsaw also ordered from the US in recent years, he added.

Poland, a NATO member in Eastern Europe where millions of Ukrainians fled after Russian forces last year launched a war, plans to deploy the helicopters to its 18th Mechanized Division and 1st Air Force Brigade.

The purchase must first be approved by the US Congress and State Department.