Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk Visits Ukraine in Latest Show of Support in War against Russia

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has arrived in Kyiv on Monday to hold talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an effort to back its ally’s two-year war and solve the longstanding bilateral tussle over the grain shipments and truck blockade. Tusk was in Ukraine to show that despite the change in the Polish government, the country is insistent about not changing its Ukraine policy. Tusk, during his visit to Ukraine is also slated to meet with the Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

“There are some conflicts of interest, we know it well and we will talk about them, but not only in the spirit of friendship, which is obvious, but with the attitude to solve these problems as soon as possible, not to maintain or multiply them,” Tusk said, according to the update published by his office on Twitter. “For me, it is very important to build the feeling that Poland is the most reliable, most stable ally of Ukraine in this deadly clash with evil,” he continued to add.

Witaj przyjacielu @ZelenskyyUa! pic.twitter.com/qZyCi6nsoH

— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk)

Poland: Ukraine’s strongest ally and supporter in war against Russia

Polish leader’s sudden to visit to Ukraine comes as Ukrainian shelling killed at least 27 people on the outskirts of Donetsk, which Kyiv says has been occupied by Russian forces. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov slammed the bombing and civilian casualties, emphasising that the attack was a “monstrous terrorist act.” While Ukraine’s military denied attacking the city, Republic could not independently verify either side’s claims.

Poland has been Ukraine’s strongest ally and supporter in its war against the Russian Federation. Last year, Polish government temporarily halted all imports of grain from Ukraine. Poland's new Agriculture Minister Robert Telus agreed that the move was to preserve the its own agricultural sector. At a joint press briefing, Telus said, "The Ukrainian side has proposed to severely restrict, and for the moment even stop completely, grain arrivals to Poland.” Ukraine diverted half of its imports to Poland, Hungary, Romania as per arrangements made by the European Commission and EU, as Russian forces bloked the Black Sea ports and suspended the UN brokered grain deal. Poland witnessed a wave of  farmers' protests.