Poland urges unity on Ukraine after Trump-Putin talks

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called for Europe and the United States to remain fully united to secure peace in Ukraine following talks between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

“After…calls with Volodymyr Zelensky, [European Council President Antonio] Costa, [German Chancellor Olaf] Scholz, [Swedish Prime Minister] Ulf Kristersson and [Christian Democrat candidate for German Chancellor] Friedrich Merz, the message is clear,” wrote Tusk on Thursday evening.

“Ukraine, Europe and the US must be fully united and committed to peace talks.”

Meanwhile, Zelensky, who spoke with Trump on Wednesday after the US president’s call with Putin, said on Thursday that he had updated Tusk on the conversation and emphasised the need for coordinated European action.

“We discussed key messages and the need to coordinate the positions of all Europeans to achieve successful outcomes for the whole of Europe,” stated Zelensky.

“I emphasized that Ukraine must negotiate from a position of strength, with strong and reliable security guarantees, and that NATO membership would be the most cost-effective for partners,” he added. “I also warned world leaders not to trust Putin’s words about his readiness to end the war.”

His comments follow Trump’s announcement that he had spoken separately with both Putin and Zelensky and that both had expressed willingness to reach a peace deal. Trump said he had instructed senior US officials to begin negotiations to end the war.

Trump’s announcement has raised concern that European leaders are being excluded from the peace process.

Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, said on Thursday that it would have been better if allies had been informed in advance about Trump’s discussions with Putin and that such diplomatic moves should not bypass key European partners, reported news website Onet and Gazeta.pl.

However, Sikorski, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, also expressed hope that Trump’s efforts to obtain peace will succeed.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Poland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK underscored their commitment to Ukraine.

“We are ready to enhance our support for Ukraine. We commit to its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s war of aggression,” the statement read.”Our shared objective should be to put Ukraine in a position of strength. Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiation.”

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Poland has been one of Ukraine’s strongest allies. Warsaw has also invested heavily in its own defence, spending over 4% of GDP last year, the highest figure among all NATO countries.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Kancelaria Premiera / flickr.com (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.