Negotiations over war in Ukraine could begin ‘in the winter’, says Tusk

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that negotiations over the war in neighbouring Ukraine could start “in winter”, as his country prepares to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on January 1.

“Our presidency (in the European Union) will be, among others, co-responsible for the shape of the political landscape, what will the situation look like probably during the negotiations that, perhaps – there are still question marks here – will begin in the winter of this year,” Mr Tusk told his Cabinet.

Poland has been one of Ukraine’s strongest backers against Russia’s full-scale invasion, in February 2022. Poland will assume the EU presidency just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in the US.

Mr Trump has been pushing for an end to the war in Ukraine and during his campaign said that he could settle the matter in a day if he were elected.

In a television interview that aired on Sunday, Mr Trump also said he would be open to reducing military aid to Ukraine and pulling the United States out of Nato. Those are two threats that have alarmed Ukraine, Nato allies and many in the US national security community.

Mr Tusk said he will be holding numerous meetings with political leaders concerning the situation relating to the war in Ukraine.

Later on Tuesday he was meeting Friedrich Merz, the head of Germany’s CDU party, who was returning from talks in Kyiv with the Ukrainian government.

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected in Warsaw on Thursday and Mr Tusk said they will talk about meetings Mr Macron held with Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Mr Tusk said that Poland was taking the six-month EU presidency during a “very dramatic” situation for the continent.

Last week, he pointed to armed conflicts, also in Europe’s vicinity, political crises some of Europe’s biggest countries are going through and to the change in US leadership.

“I would like it very much for Poland to be the country that will not only mark its presence all the time, but will also set the tone of the decisions that are to bring us security and safeguard Poland’s interests,” Mr Tusk told a government meeting.