Tusk responds after Zelenskyy bypasses Poland on UK trip
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (photo: Getty Images)
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk commented on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's change of flight route, as the Ukrainian leader did not travel via Rzeszów, according to RMF24 and Rzeczpospolita.
Tusk on Zelenskyy's route
On June 7, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the United Kingdom not via the Polish airport in Rzeszów, as he usually does, but through Chisinau.
"President Zelenskyy is using options other than Rzeszów, and that's all. I am not going to tell him where and how he should fly. Rzeszów was not closed," the Polish prime minister said.
He was responding to speculation that the Polish side may have closed the airport to force Zelenskyy to reverse the decision to grant a Ukrainian military unit the honorary title "Named after the Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army."
Poland is an "indispensable link"
Tusk also commented on Poland's absence from Zelenskyy's meeting with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.
According to him, Warsaw is "an absolutely indispensable link" in negotiations regarding the future of Ukraine and the region, and therefore "will not recognize agreements in which Poland does not participate."
He also said that a meeting in a "group of five" format — including Poland and Italy — would be organized in the coming days. The prime minister noted that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is also "not enthusiastic about the existence of a format involving only the United Kingdom, France, and Germany."
At the same time, Tusk confirmed that he expects Zelenskyy to attend the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk on June 25-26.
"Therefore, I am not waiting for any confirmation here. We will obviously welcome in Gdansk those who come: companies, businesses. This is in the interests of both Ukraine and Poland," he said.
Amid the controversy over the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, Tusk called on Zelenskyy and Polish President Karol Nawrocki to hold direct talks, emphasizing that a conflict between the two countries would benefit only Moscow.
Meanwhile, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski opposed the idea of stripping Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, noting that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder — a man who takes money from Putin — still holds the award.
The European Commission stated that the bilateral conflict between Ukraine and Poland should not affect Kyiv's path toward European integration. The first negotiation cluster with Ukraine is planned to be opened on June 15.
Tusk promised not to trade support for Ukraine's European Union accession path because of the controversy over the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, although he stressed that such support would have conditions — "European, safe, and advantageous for Poland."
