A solution to the war in Ukraine must under no circumstances endanger the security of Europe or Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on the sidelines of an EU-Africa summit in Luanda on Monday, according to reports carried by Polish media.
European Union heads of state and government were agreed on this in their consultations, Tusk said, as they held talks on a US-led plan to end the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion almost four years ago.
Ukraine needed a just and durable peace, Tusk said. “Its collapse would mean a direct threat to Poland,” he said, according to the PAP news agency.
Changes to the 28-point plan put forward by the United States were a “delicate matter,” Tusk said. No one wished to alienate President Donald Trump, who has promoted the plan. “We are doing all we can to keep the United States on the same side,” he added.
Tusk said that one controversial point had been cut out of the plan – a suggestion that European fighter jets should be stationed on Polish territory.
This could be seen as implying an end to NATO air patrols over the Baltic republics, or that Ukrainian jets bought from European countries should be stationed in Poland and outside Ukraine, he said.
Tusk said this point had probably been added at Russian instigation.
Poland, a direct neighbour of Ukraine, has been a staunch supporter of the country in warding off the Russian invasion. As a NATO and EU frontier state bordering Belarus, a Russian ally, it sees itself as under threat from potential Russian aggression.