Ukraine, UK and Poland launch trilateral agreement “in face of Russian aggression”

Poland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom have announced a new agreement to cooperate “in the face of ongoing Russian aggression”.

The “Trilateral Memorandum of Cooperation” was agreed today by the three countries’ foreign ministers and announced as the UK’s Liz Truss visited Kyiv to meet with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.

Poland’s Zbigniew Rau was also due to be present at the announcement but could not attend “for logistical reasons”, said Kuleba. Truss is due to next travel on to Poland, where the UK has recently boosted its military presence in response to Russia’s military buildup.

“We reiterate that each European state is free to choose or change its security arrangements, including treaties of alliance, and no state can consider any part of Europe as its sphere of influence,” wrote the three foreign ministers in a joint statement.

During a visit by Rau to Moscow earlier this week, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, had criticised Western countries for “trying to put forward [the idea] that every state has the right to choose allies”. He argued that they “cannot do this at the expense of others’ security”.

In their statement today, Poland and the UK pledged to “continue to provide Ukraine with support, standing in unity with Ukraine, in the face of ongoing Russian aggression”. They promised to enhance cooperation on cyber security, energy security and countering disinformation.

Yesterday, the UK’s defence intelligence chief, Jim Hockenhull, said that there was no evidence of Russia withdrawing forces from around Ukraine’s borders, as the Kremlin has claimed.

The head of Poland’s National Security Bureau (BBN), Paweł Soloch, told Polskie Radio this morning that “many indicators say that the probability of a Russian attack on Ukraine is higher today than it was yesterday”.

This afternoon, Soloch held talks with Stephen Lovegrove, the UK’s national security advisor. The two “discussed the coordination of allied actions and support for Ukraine in the event of a conflict”, according to the BBN.

Main image credit: MFA_Ukraine/Twitter

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.