Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced that he will visit Ukraine on Friday, 18 September, where he will also meet his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico.
At a press conference in Warsaw with Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, the Polish official stressed that Warsaw would continue to push for tougher sanctions against Russia, Ukrinform reports.
EU countries are currently agreeing a 22nd package of restrictions against Russia. Tusk said France’s position on the issue had surprised Warsaw, while Slovakia has traditionally been cautious. Despite this, the Polish prime minister remains optimistic about a joint decision by the Visegrad Group and plans to discuss the matter with Fico directly in Ukraine. Separately, Tusk intends to ask Macron about the French side’s motives regarding anti-Russian sanctions.
The Polish prime minister also commented on calls by US President Donald Trump for a so-called “energy truce”. According to Tusk, hopes of an end to shelling proved futile, as Russia responded with new strikes on Ukrainian facilities near the border with Poland. The official voiced concerns that, before winter sets in, Russian forces will only intensify attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
In addition, Tusk stressed the need for Poland to prepare for any provocations from Moscow. He underlined that Warsaw has no intention of believing Russia’s diplomatic statements about “goodwill”, as the occupiers’ real actions show the opposite.
- EU countries on 14 September failed to agree on extending one of the sanctions packages against Russia. Ambassadors meeting in Brussels needed to reach unanimous agreement, as the sanctions package — which provides for the freezing of assets of around 3,000 individuals and legal entities — was due to expire on 15 September.
- Slovakia is demanding that the EU remove two Russian oligarchs — Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman — from the sanctions list. France, meanwhile, tried to find a compromise by proposing that only Usmanov be removed.
- As a result, the European Union temporarily extended the individual sanctions against Russia until midnight on 22 September.