Press
Ukraine concludes a security agreement with Poland, one of the country’s most committed political and military supporters. President Zelenskyj speaks of an “ambitious” contract.
Warsaw – Before the NATO summit in Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk signed a bilateral security agreement in Warsaw. “Whoever defends Ukraine today is also defending himself,” said Tusk.
The Ukrainian president described the treaty as “ambitious”. “It is designed to protect the lives of our people and resist the Russian evil,” said Zelensky. The treaty provides for the development of a mechanism that “can shoot down Russian missiles and drones in Ukrainian airspace that have been fired towards Poland”.
Zelensky arrived in Poland on the day of heavy Russian missile attacks on his country that killed at least 26 people. A large children’s hospital was hit in Kyiv. “There are no words, no documents, no political statements that would be sufficient to condemn the aggressor,” Tusk said.
Poland, an EU and NATO member, is one of the most committed political and military supporters of Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia. It also plays an important role as a hub for Western military aid to Kyiv. Poland has also taken in almost a million refugees from its neighbouring country.
Ukraine has so far concluded security agreements with the EU and 19 individual states, including the USA, Japan and Germany. These formalize the support already provided in the military and civilian sectors and promise further assistance for an initial period of ten years.
In the early afternoon, Selenskyj is scheduled to meet his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda. The NATO summit to mark the 75th anniversary of the defense alliance will take place in Washington from July 9 to 11. The heads of state and government of the 32 member states want to discuss, among other things, further aid for Ukraine. Selenskyj has also been invited to the meeting. Since the airspace over Ukraine has been closed since the beginning of the war, Selenskyj must first take the land route via Poland for all foreign trips before he can travel on by plane from there. dpa
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