Poland’s Tusk Arrives in Ukraine to Reset Frayed Ties

KYIV, Ukraine — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrived in Ukraine’s capital Monday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on how Poland can keep supporting the nation’s just about two-year war with Russia and resolve a dispute between the neighboring nations over grain shipments and trucking.

Tusk, who returned to power in Poland remaining month and is keen to point {{that a}} change in authorities is not going to ship a change in Ukraine protection, was moreover as a consequence of meet with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

“There are some conflicts of curiosity, everyone knows it correctly and we’re going to discuss them, nonetheless not solely inside the spirit of friendship, which is evident, nonetheless with the angle to resolve these points as rapidly as attainable, to not maintain or multiply them,” Tusk acknowledged, in response to suggestions posted on X, beforehand Twitter, by his office.

“For me, this can be very important to assemble the feeling that Poland is basically probably the most reliable, most safe ally of Ukraine on this deadly battle with evil,” Tusk acknowledged.

His go to got here in regards to the day after Moscow-installed officers in jap Ukraine reported that Ukrainian shelling killed at least 27 people on the outskirts of a Russian-occupied metropolis. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred to as the shelling exterior Donetsk a “monstrous terrorist act,” and the Russia-backed native authorities declared a day of mourning.

The Ukrainian navy, nonetheless, denied it had one thing to do with the assault.

It was not immediately attainable to verify each side’s claims.

Ukraine’s allies have in present weeks sought to reassure the nation that they’re devoted to its long-term safety in the direction of the Kremlin’s forces amid concerns that Western support is likely to be sagging. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and France’s new foreign minister moreover traveled to Kyiv not too way back.

Located on NATO’s jap flank, Poland has been one amongst Ukraine’s strongest allies in its battle to defeat Russia. The federal authorities in Warsaw has provided weapons and humanitarian assist, and opened its borders to Ukrainian refugees since Moscow’s troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Nonetheless relations soured last year as monetary opponents from Ukrainian meals producers and truckers angered Poles who acknowledged their livelihoods have been beneath danger.

Polish farmers and truckers blockaded border crossings, inflicting backups and threatening the flow of some aid going into Ukraine.

Polish farmers complained that imports of Ukrainian meals had precipitated prices to fall, hurting their incomes, whereas truckers acknowledged they’ve been being undercut by their Ukrainian counterparts. The issue surfaced during the war as Ukrainian ports have been blocked and meals producers turned to freeway routes by way of Europe to get their merchandise to market.

At one degree, Poland and one other European nations banned Ukrainian grain imports as a result of commerce dispute.

Poland’s farmers and vans have ended their protests for now, nonetheless Tusk is on the lookout for strategies of addressing their points. He has acknowledged that his nation needs to help Ukraine economically nonetheless not on the expense of Polish corporations. He has really useful that Ukraine needs to raised regulate its trucking commerce.

Tusk was moreover scheduled to honor Ukrainian fighters and attend observances of the Day of Ukraine’s Unity, which marks Ukraine’s prolonged wrestle to be unbiased from every its jap and western neighbors.

In numerous war-related developments, Ukraine’s air strain acknowledged it intercepted all eight Shahed drones that Russia launch in a single day over southern and central areas of Ukraine.

Particles from three drones shot down over the central Dnipropetrovsk space started a hearth at an unnamed enterprise nonetheless no human casualties have been reported.

Within the meantime, predominant Ukrainian digital banking platform Monobank acknowledged it acquired right here beneath an unlimited denial-of-service (DoS) assault by unidentified hackers.

The assault was effectively repelled, the monetary establishment acknowledged, with no predominant penalties. Monobank is one amongst Ukraine’s best banks.

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This story has been corrected to point that Denys Shmyhal is Ukraine’s prime minister, not safety minister.

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Monika Scislowska contributed from Warsaw, Poland.