War in Ukraine. Tusk: the situation on the front is critical, the coming weeks may decide the fate of the war

Prime Minister Donald Tusk emphasized after the informal summit of the European Council that among the topics discussed during the summit, security issues were particularly important from the Polish perspective. Leaders of member states also joined forces with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

– President Zelensky emphasized the immediate, perhaps decisive need to provide Ukraine with systems that could combat Russian missiles and drones, Tusk said. As the head of government said, Germany provided another set of Patriot batteries to Ukraine and called on other countries with such capabilities to join this initiative.

However, the Prime Minister emphasized that Berlin's appeal did not apply to Poland. – We don't have enough Patriots to share at the moment. Nobody expects this from Poland, as a frontline state, he assured. He added that “everyone understands that we must protect our own skies, including in connection with the incidents with Russian missiles.”

The summit's conclusions included a provision obliging the EU to take action to ensure the safety of the Ukrainian sky. – The common intention was expressed that Europe takes part of the responsibility for the safety of the skies over Ukraine – Tusk said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the situation on the Ukrainian front is critical, and the coming weeks may decide the fate of the war. – We are waiting for the Americans' decision regarding USD 60 billion for Ukraine. It should be resolved within two days, but a question mark still hangs in the air, he said.

Referring to the months-delayed vote scheduled for Saturday in the House of Representatives over the support package for Ukraine, Donald Tusk said that delaying aid for Kiev “is a matter of hundreds and thousands of human lives in Ukraine, destroyed cities, because this American aid is not just money, it would be immediate help in equipment.” – This delay, this blocking, it is marked with blood, and of course it has weakened Ukraine a lot, without a doubt. Well, we'll see, maybe it will change on Saturday – he added.

The head of the Polish government informed that the leaders of the EU member states also discussed, among others, about the threat related to Russian attempts to interfere in the elections to the European Parliament. As he explained, it is about the use of disinformation and other forms of cyber aggression during elections. – Both the Prime Minister of Belgium and the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic made it clear that we all have reasons to fear Russian interference, whether through the Internet or disinformation, he said.

The Prime Minister pointed out that an example was the scandal related to the Voice of Europe website, which – according to the Czech civilian counterintelligence – published pro-Russian and disinformation content. The Czech services also determined that people associated with the portal could have paid politicians of several European countries, including – as Tusk said – Poles representing the right side of the political scene.

– Today it takes on particular importance in the context of information about the arrest of a Pole who was in the process of preparing an attack on President Zelensky. It is known about his attempts to contact Russian intelligence. His arrest was absolutely justified, Tusk emphasized.

In the opinion of the head of government, this situation illustrates that “even if we are dealing with an isolated accident of a madman, we must realize that we should all currently be focused on safety.” The Prime Minister appealed to Poles. – I would like to appeal to everyone, without exception, not to do anything that could weaken Ukraine today – he said.