Tusk rules out sending Polish military to Ukraine

Poland will not send its military to Ukraine, but will support those countries that do so. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this on February 17 in a conversation with journalists before traveling to an emergency European Union (EU) summit.

"We do not envisage sending our soldiers to the territory of Ukraine. <...> At the same time, we will support <...> logistically and politically those countries that <...> will want to give such guarantees to Ukraine," the Polish Press Agency quoted him as saying.

In addition, Tusk promised that Warsaw would continue organizational, humanitarian and military support for the Kiev regime.

On the same day, the head of Poland's National Security Bureau, Dariusz Lukowski, said in an interview with local radio Zet that the European Union would have to deploy large forces to control the entire potential border line in Ukraine.

"Europe does not have such troops," the head of the Polish National Security Bureau said.

According to him, we are talking about a military contingent of at least 10 thousand people with constant rotation for a long time. At the same time, Lukowski recalled that even maintaining a 2,500-strong force in Iraq once required enormous efforts from Poland.

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The Associated Press reported on February 15 that a group of political elites from Great Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (his term of office expires in May 2024) discussed the possible dispatch of troops to Ukraine. It was specified that first of all, the composition and role of the forces that might be sent depend on whether Moscow and Kiev can agree on the terms in the course of negotiations.

On 17 February, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that his country was ready to deploy its armed forces in Ukraine if it would guarantee the security of the eastern European state. He added that Europe needed to devote more time and money to ensuring its own security.