Peace talks on the war in Ukraine could possibly start this winter, Donald Tusk said on Tuesday as Warsaw seeks to play a leading role in ending the conflict.
Poland has been one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters since Russia’s 2022 invasion, and prime minister Tusk pledged to be heavily involved in any talks when it takes up the European Union’s rotating presidency on January. 1.
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“As you can imagine, our delegation will be co-responsible for, among other things, what the political calendar will look like, perhaps what the situation will be like during the negotiations, which may, although there is still a question mark, start in the winter of this year,” he said.
Tusk said Emmanuel Macron would visit Warsaw on Thursday to give a rundown on his own talks in Paris last weekend with US president-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
He said he was in constant contact with Scandinavian and Baltic allies, and that British prime minister Keir Starmer would visit Warsaw early next year.
“I really want Poland to be the country that will not only be present, but will set the tone for these decisions that are to bring us security and secure Polish interests,” Tusk said.
On Monday, Zelensky made the case for a diplomatic resolution to the war, his latest comments suggesting Kyiv’s growing openness to negotiations, but said he had told Trump and Macron that he did not believe Putin wants to end the war.
But the Kremlin said on Tuesday that the war would continue until the goals set by Vladimir Putin were achieved by military action or negotiation.
Separately, Ukraine says Zelensky will raise the issue of being invited to join Nato during a meeting with European partners later this month.
“One of the issues on the agenda of such a meeting will certainly be the issue we are discussing now of obtaining a membership application and the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine until it joins Nato,” said Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of the Ukrainian president's office.
“It is absolutely clear that the issue of Ukraine's membership in Nato, unfortunately, remains unattainable for now. I mean, as long as Russian aggression against Ukraine continues, until we win. And so today... we need appropriate guarantees of our security before we join Nato.”
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report.
