Speaking at a press conference in Paris on Thursday--following a summit of Ukraine’s international allies, referred to as the "coalition of the willing" and attended by European Union and NATO representatives--Tusk revealed that he had held one-on-one talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Their discussion focused on strengthening ties between Warsaw and Paris, including the upcoming agreement.
“We are slowly finalizing the treaty between Poland and France. I hope we will be ready to sign it soon,” Tusk said.
While he did not disclose details, he emphasised that “many signs indicate it could be a breakthrough in terms of mutual security guarantees.”
He added that the treaty would represent a further step toward “making real what we call security guarantees for Europe and for Poland.”
According to Tusk, Poland’s position is fully accepted as part of a shared European and NATO vision of peace and security.
Work on the new Treaty of Enhanced Friendship and Cooperation between the two countries has been underway for months.
In January, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said the agreement would provide a significant boost to Polish-French relations and was likely to be finalised within months.
The Paris meeting was not intended to produce any joint decisions on potential international stabilisation missions in Ukraine, Tusk clarified.
“There’s no point in specifying such plans until there are at least preliminary results from the U.S.–Russia talks about a real ceasefire,” he said, referring to American-led mediation between Moscow and Kyiv.
According to the Polish prime minister, the summit also included discussions on how best to convince the United States that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is not interested in ending the war.
“President Zelensky and Ukraine have shown maximum good will during the talks in Saudi Arabia and agreed unconditionally to a ceasefire,” Tusk noted. He contrasted this with what he described as Moscow’s “unrealistic demands.”
“The condition Russia has set– that it will agree to a ceasefire only if all sanctions are lifted – is considered completely unrealistic by everyone gathered here in Paris,” he said.
Tusk said that those in regular contact with US President Donald Trump should work to convince Americans “to open their eyes as wide as possible and see who is responsible for the ongoing war and for the continuing loss of life.”
While Tusk acknowledged that countries such as the United Kingdom and France appear willing to take part in a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, he made clear that Poland would not contribute troops to such an effort.
“We know our tasks, and they are directly related to securing our border and coordinating aid via Rzeszów and the airport in Jasionka,” he said, referring to Poland’s key logistics hub for international assistance to Ukraine.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP