Comments continue to swirl about Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s absence from Sunday’s conversation between European leaders and Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump. When such meetings are organized by European politicians, Poland is represented by the head of government. However, Paweł Szefernaker, Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, emphasized that yesterday’s teleconference was organized by the White House. This may say a great deal about whom the Americans perceive as the “leader” of Poland.
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. The meeting focused on ending the war in Ukraine. Shortly after the talks between the two delegations, the presidents connected with European leaders. President of the Republic of Poland Karol Nawrocki took part in those consultations.
“The state of the peace talks aimed at bringing about an end to the war in Ukraine caused by Russia was discussed. President Karol Nawrocki emphasized President Trump’s strong commitment to the peace process and thanked him for today’s conversation. He noted that since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport has served as a hub for more than 90 percent of aid to Ukraine. Therefore, Poland’s position at the moment a peace agreement is signed will be crucial,” the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland reported.
Why was Poland represented by the president rather than the prime minister in the videoconference? Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki attempted to explain this on the air of TVP, currently in liquidation. However, he was directly asked about Tusk’s participation in meetings within the so-called “coalition of the willing,” in which Poland has been represented by the government since the coalition’s inception.
“In 90, maybe more than 90 percent of the conversations in this format, Donald Tusk takes part. But when it comes to the Americans, this is not the first time, probably the third, that they have changed Poland’s interlocutor from Donald Tusk, who, I should remind you, as recently as Saturday, during preparations for this summit on the European and Ukrainian side, participated in such a videoconference,” he said.
Paweł Szefernaker, Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, was also asked about Tusk’s absence and Nawrocki’s participation in Sunday’s conversation during an appearance on TV Republika. In a discussion with journalist Ewa Bugała, the presidential minister stated plainly that European politicians were not responsible for organizing the conversation, the White House was.
“This is a format in which the president has already taken part in these talks several times. I would like to remind you that at the beginning, when these talks took place in September, with other state leaders, President Karol Nawrocki participated in these teleconferences with President Donald Trump. I myself had the honor of accompanying the president when he took part in one of those teleconferences. Yesterday, there was another one organized by the White House […] this format has existed before, so it is nothing new. It is a conversation between President Donald Trump and European leaders, to which President Karol Nawrocki was invited,” he said.