Polish President Andrzej Duda has called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to return to the negotiating table with the United States.
There is no other power in the world besides the United States that would be able to stop Russia’s aggression, Duda said in Warsaw.
“Volodymyr Zelensky should return to the table … and calmly negotiate a solution that will make Ukraine safe,” Duda said, adding that Warsaw would support him in this effort.
Poland, an EU and NATO member, is one of the most important political and military supporters of Ukraine, which has been under full-scale attack by Russia since February 2022.
Poland plays a central role as a hub for Western military aid to Kiev.
Duda has never hidden his admiration for US President Donald Trump. But Trump’s policy toward Ukraine, which dismays many Poles, has put Duda under a great deal of pressure recently.
Trump on Friday accused Zelensky of recklessly endangering global security by refusing to negotiate a peace deal with Russia, warning that he was “gambling with World War Three.”
In their Oval Office blow-up, he dismissed Ukraine’s position in the war started by Russia, arguing that Zelensky did not “have the cards” to dictate how Washington should engage with Moscow.
Trump insisted that Russian President Vladimir Putin was willing to negotiate and issued an ultimatum to Zelensky: either Ukraine made a deal, or the US would withdraw its critical military support, leaving Ukraine to “fight it out” on its own.
Zelensky, visibly frustrated, countered that “there would be no compromises with a killer on our territory.”