KYIV, Ukraine — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk vowed Monday to keep supporting Ukraine against Russia’s nearly 2-year-old invasion and to resolve differences between Warsaw and Kyiv over grain shipments and trucking that soured ties between the neighbors.
Tusk, who returned to power last month and is keen to show that a change in government won’t alter its Ukraine policy, also met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal.
“There are some conflicts of interest, we know it well, and we will talk about them, but not only in the spirit of friendship, which is obvious, but with the attitude to solve these problems as soon as possible, not to maintain or multiply them,” Tusk said, according to comments released by his office.
“For me, it is very important to build the feeling that Poland is the most reliable, most stable ally of Ukraine in this deadly clash with evil,” Tusk said in the post on X, formerly Twitter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv will get a new “defensive package” from Poland.
“There’s a new form of our interaction for increasing the scale of arms purchases — a Polish loan to Ukraine,” he said on social media, without elaborating.
Tusk’s visit came a day after Moscow-installed officials in eastern Ukraine reported that Ukrainian shelling killed 27 people on the outskirts of Russian-occupied Donetsk. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it a “monstrous terrorist act,” and the Russia-backed local authorities declared a day of mourning.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the students during Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. Credit: AP/Efrem Lukatsky
The Ukrainian military, however, denied it had anything to do with the attack.
It was not immediately possible to verify either side’s claims.
Ukraine’s allies have recently sought to reassure the country that they are committed to its long-term defense amid concerns that Western support could be…
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