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UPDATE: France's Macron visits Warsaw for talks on Ukraine

12.12.2024 13:00
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Warsaw on Thursday for talks with Polish leaders on bilateral ties and ways to end Russia's war in Ukraine.
Polands Prime Minister Donald Tusk (right) and French President Emmanuel Macron (left) meet in Warsaw on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk (right) and French President Emmanuel Macron (left) meet in Warsaw on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.Photo: PAP/Piotr Nowak

During his visit, Macron was expected to brief Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on his recent meeting in Paris with US President-elect Donald Trump and Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Polish media outlets.

Later in the day, Macron was also scheduled to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda for talks on Ukraine, the European Union and bilateral relations, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported, citing the Élysée Palace.

The Élysée Palace also said that Macron's talks in Warsaw would focus on Poland's upcoming turn at the helm of the European Union as well as joint opposition to the EU's disputed deal with the Mercosur group of countries, according to the IAR news agency.

Macron's visit comes as Warsaw and Paris are finalising a new bilateral treaty, Polish Radio reported. The document is expected to be signed next spring in the eastern French city of Nancy.

Meanwhile, the Reuters news agency quoted a French diplomat as saying that "Ukraine will be top of the agenda when the two leaders meet and how to make sure that it is able to resist and be in the best position to negotiate" with Russia.

Two diplomats said that one of the issues on the agenda would be the potential deployment of European troops to Ukraine, contingent on a ceasefire and peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, according to Reuters.

Trump, who will be inaugurated as US president on January 20, has said he will prioritise an immediate ceasefire and negotiations to resolve the conflict, according to multiple reports.

As the world gears up for the new Trump presidency, European powers are eager to demonstrate their commitment to sharing the responsibility of ending the nearly three-year war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Earlier this week, Poland's Tusk announced a series of talks with European leaders as part of an effort to bring about peace in Ukraine.

Speaking before a Cabinet meeting in Warsaw on Tuesday, Tusk said: "I will have a series of discussions concerning primarily the situation beyond our eastern border."

He added that during Poland's upcoming EU presidency, his country would take joint responsibility for advancing peace negotiations, which he said could begin this winter.

On Tuesday, Tusk spoke on the phone with Ukraine's Zelensky and also held talks in Warsaw with Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany's CDU party and a potential future German chancellor, who arrived in the Polish capital directly from Kyiv.

Tusk also announced plans to travel to Oslo for talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

Additionally, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is scheduled to visit Warsaw at the start of Poland's EU presidency, according to Tusk.

"This entire set of actions is aimed at taking seriously the political responsibility that falls on Poland on the eve of our EU presidency," Tusk said.

As Poland prepares to take the helm of the EU Council on January 1, Tusk's government said this week that the Polish presidency would focus heavily on various aspects of European security.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP