Poland calls for NATO to give Ukraine security guarantees as Zelensky makes first Warsaw visit during war

During his first visit to Warsaw since Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked Poland’s government and society for the help it has provided to his country during the war.

During a joint press conference, his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, assured Zelensky that Poland will continue to support Ukraine and that it is seeking additional security guarantees for Ukraine ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius in July. He also reiterated Poland’s support for Ukraine’s future EU and NATO membership.

Duda announced that Poland is willing to donate further MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, while ahead of their talks Zelensky was awarded Poland’s highest honour, the Order of the White Eagle.

“I believe that we will succeed in obtaining guarantees [for Ukraine] as a prelude to Ukraine’s future membership in full in the North Atlantic Alliance,” Duda stated. Ukraine applied for NATO membership in September.

Although Duda did not specify during his speech exactly what security guarantees Poland was seeking, in an interview with the Financial Times earlier this year he suggested they could bind leading NATO powers such as the US, UK and France into providing military assistance in the event of a future attack on Ukraine.

His remarks echoed those of Zelensky, who yesterday called for the NATO summit in Vilnius “to be quite ambitious” and argued that “only collective guarantees” can be a safeguard against further Russian aggression.

At today’s meeting, Zelensky also appealed for further Western military support for his country, a call backed by Duda. The Polish president announced that, in addition to the eight MiG-29 jets Poland has already committed to sending Ukraine, it would transfer a further six.

“We are sending, as far as possible, military support,” said Duda, whose country has, after the US, UK and Germany, been the largest donor of military aid to Kyiv.

“We will still need these MiGs, but as they are gradually ‘released’ through [the deliveries of] new FA-50 and F-35 aircraft, I believe that in the future we will be able to hand over our entire remaining fleet of MiG-29s to Ukraine if necessary,” he added.

The presidents also discussed future economic cooperation and “difficult” historical topics, said Duda. Poland and Ukraine have often clashed over World War Two history, and in particular the Volhynia massacres, in which Ukrainian nationalists killed tens of thousands of ethnic Polish civilians.

“We have talked today about issues that matter for the future, about our mutual relations, but when thinking about the future, we cannot forget about history,” said Duda. “There are no taboos between us. We want to build a policy of honest, reliable memory.”

Zelensky likewise expressed hope that “all historical issues will be resolved”. He also thanked Poland “for being such a strong neighbour” during the war and Duda personally for the support he has given to Ukraine’s EU membership bid.

While Zelensky and Duda have met twice in Poland since the outbreak of the war – in February 2023 and in December 2022 – these meetings were held in the city of Rzeszów while Zelensky’s was in transit during trips elsewhere.

Today’s visit was Zelensky’s first official delegation to Poland during the war. After meeting Duda, he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the speaker of both houses of parliament, Elżbieta Witek and Tomasz Grodzki, and Ukrainians living in Poland.

Duda has also visited Kyiv three times during the war, including a trip in August during which he became the first name inscribed in an avenue honouring those who have supported Ukraine since Russia’s invasion

Main image credit: Grzegorz Jakubowski/KPRP

Alicja Ptak

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