“Russia cannot emerge from this war stronger,” warns Polish PM ahead of Trump-Putin meeting

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk says he has “a lot of concerns” but also “a lot of hope” about the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin planned for Friday in Alaska.

Tusk also hailed the “unity” among European leaders in their position on the war in Ukraine, including the conviction that Kyiv must be involved in the peace process and cannot have territorial concessions forced upon it.

“For Poland, for our European partners and, I hope, for NATO as a whole, it must be clear that national borders cannot be changed by force, and therefore the Russian-Ukrainian war cannot benefit Russia simply because it is the aggressor,” said Tusk at a press conference on Monday.

The prime minister stressed that, while he appreciates Trump's efforts to bring this war to an end, it cannot be achieved in a way that would “give Putin a reason to declare victory”.

“We cannot allow Russia to emerge from this conflict stronger and convinced that it can violate borders with impunity, conquer other countries' territories, and that the world will agree to this”, declared Tusk.

That is vital for Poland's own security, said the prime minister, pointing to intelligence assessments by both the US and NATO indicating that Russia will pose a threat to other countries in the region in the coming years.

Tusk's remarks followed a joint statement at the weekend in which he, along with the leaders of France, Italy, Germany, Finland, the UK and the European Commission, declared that “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.”

While they said that they “welcomed” Trump's efforts to bring the war to an end, they warned that any “solution must protect Ukraine's and Europe's vital security interests…includ[ing] the need for robust and credible security guarantees that enable Ukraine to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Poland has been one of Ukraine's closest allies since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, including supporting Kyiv's aspirations to join the EU and NATO. Last year, the two countries signed a security agreement,

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