Today in Geneva, representatives of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom will meet with a Ukrainian delegation about the peace plan—before the upcoming U.S.–Ukraine meeting. The European leaders’ statement on the matter contains a telling remark that “Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has joined the statement.” The head of the Polish government has declared he will attend tomorrow’s informal EU summit on the Ukraine plan. In the English-language version of his post, he also questioned the authorship of the 28-point proposal.
On Saturday afternoon, the European Council published a position paper titled “Statement by Leaders on Ukraine.”
The document states that the leaders “welcome continued U.S. efforts to bring peace to Ukraine.”
“We consider the draft [peace plan] to be a basis that will require further work. We are ready to engage to ensure the durability of future peace. We firmly believe that borders must not be changed by force. We are also concerned about the proposed restrictions on the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which would expose Ukraine to future attacks,” the statement reads.
The leaders noted that implementing elements related to NATO and the EU will require approval from the relevant member states.
According to the statement, 13 leaders—heads of European institutions and states, as well as the prime ministers of Japan and Canada—adopted the document. Below this list, a note was added:
“Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has joined the statement.”
The Polish representative is not taking part in the G20 summit where the text of the statement was agreed.
Today, the prime minister posted on social media that he had “raised objections to some points” of the peace plan.
“Tomorrow European leaders will meet in Luanda before the start of the Africa–European Union summit, where I will present the Polish point of view,” Tusk wrote.
The Chancellery of the Prime Minister stated yesterday that Tusk intends to be present at the summit in Angola.
A copy of the plan drafted by European leaders, obtained by The Washington Post, provides that no limits would be placed on the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Kyiv would regain control over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, enjoy “unrestricted navigation rights” on the Dnipro River, and exercise authority over the Kinburn Spit (the westernmost part of the Kinburn Peninsula separating the Dnipro and Boh estuaries from the Black Sea).
Other territorial disputes—under the European proposal—would be settled only after a ceasefire. According to Reuters, citing an anonymous German source, the Europeans sent the draft of the new peace plan to the Ukrainian and U.S. administrations on Saturday.
Shen: Poland Is Being Marginalized
Hanna Shen, correspondent for Gazeta Polska Codziennie, pointed out that Poland is “completely marginalized” in the peace plan discussions.
“Ukraine, as we know, looks to Merz. Berlin, Paris, and London may add us under a ready-made document, just as they did with the statement published during the G20 summit. I know… Poland did not take part in the G20, but this remark that the Polish PM ‘joined the statement’… well, it doesn’t look good. And one could have convened a meeting of leaders from our region or, better yet, from NATO’s front-line states (the eastern flank). Work out a position explaining why we must be at that negotiation table—Poland could have acted as a representative of the region,” Shen wrote on social media.
Marzenna Guz-Vetter, former head of the European Commission Representation in Poland, also commented on the prime minister’s post.
“What kind of convoluted information is this? What objections? Is Donald Tusk flying to Africa or joining from Sopot?” she asked.
Talks in Geneva
Today, U.S. and Ukrainian representatives will discuss the peace plan in Geneva, and before that the Ukrainian delegation will meet with advisers from the E3 countries—the UK, France, and Germany.
The Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) also issued a collective statement on the peace plan after talks with Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Solutions that guarantee Ukrainian sovereignty and will give Ukraine and Europe greater security and stability have our full support,” emphasized the NB8 countries, which include Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
Yesterday Zelensky also spoke with Donald Tusk. After the conversation, the prime minister stated that “everything concerning Poland must be agreed with the Polish government.”
Tusk Questions the Plan’s Authors?
It is worth noting that in the English version of his post, Donald Tusk included a sentence questioning the authorship of the peace plan for Ukraine:
“Before we start working, it would be good to be sure who authored the plan and where it was created,” the prime minister wrote.
The matter—recently raised by some U.S. lawmakers—was addressed today by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The Secretary of State emphasized on Saturday that the peace plan for Ukraine was authored by the Americans, with input from Russia and Ukraine.
“The peace proposal is authored by the United States. It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it also builds on previous and current input from Ukraine,” he wrote on X.