Ukraine’s Zelensky meets Poland’s Trump-backed President at key moment in war
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) and Polish President Karol Nawrocki at a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw on Dec 19.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WARSAW - Mr Volodymyr Zelensky met the MAGA-aligned Polish President Karol Nawrocki in Warsaw on Dec 19 as the Ukrainian leader tries to shore up relations with a key ally at a crucial moment for Kyiv’s war effort.
The meeting took place just hours after European Union leaders – whom US President Donald Trump recently branded “weak” – agreed to borrow cash to loan €90 billion (S$136 billion) to Ukraine
Mr Zelensky was greeted by Mr Nawrocki outside the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, where the leaders were scheduled to hold talks.
While there is broad agreement in Warsaw that aid for Kyiv is essential to keep Russian forces away from Poland’s borders, hardening attitudes towards Ukrainian refugees have fuelled simmering tensions.
In a nod to rising anti-Ukrainian sentiment among some right-wing voters, nationalist Nawrocki had insisted that Mr Zelensky should visit Warsaw to thank Poland for its support before he would consider visiting Kyiv.
“We should support Ukraine, and we do,” Mr Nawrocki said in an interview with the wp.pl news website published on Dec 15.
“At the same time, we should... ensure that Ukraine treats Poland as a partner. The conflict has been going on for nearly four years, and I have the impression that we Poles often don't feel like partners in this relationship.”
Mr Nawrocki’s approach to relations with Kyiv is much cooler than that of his predecessor Andrzej Duda, and reflects the increasing fractures on the right of Polish politics.
Political division
Mr Zelensky said when confirming Dec 19’s visit that maintaining relations with Poland was “very important”.
Political analysts say it is necessary for Mr Zelensky to build a warmer relationship with Mr Nawrocki given the mounting scepticism about aid for Ukraine among many people in Poland, a country which has been one of Kyiv’s staunchest backers since Russia invaded in 2022.
Mr Wojciech Przybylski, head of the Res Publica Foundation think-tank, believes that Mr Nawrocki, who was endorsed by Mr Trump, could prove valuable to the Ukrainian President.
“Zelensky needs allies and circles who have some ties to Donald Trump... so here, Nawrocki is showing that he holds the cards and is thus trying to establish himself as a significant player in Ukraine,” he said.
While Mr Nawrocki’s presidential election campaign in 2025 was backed by Poland’s largest nationalist opposition party PiS, his eventual victory in June’s run-off vote owed much to supporters of far-right parties who say Poland has given Ukraine too much support.
Such views are becoming increasingly common.
A Pollster survey for the Super Express tabloid published on Dec 16 found that 57 per cent of respondents had a negative opinion about Poland’s decision to spend US$100 million (S$129 million) on US arms for Ukraine.
Poland’s approach to the war in Ukraine also forms part of a bitter feud at the heart of Polish politics between MAGA-enthusiast Nawrocki and centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a former European Council president.
Mr Tusk said on Dec 18 that he would meet Mr Zelensky in Warsaw after returning from the summit.
He has previously berated right-wing parties over their attitude to Ukraine, telling them to “stand by Ukraine’s side in its war with Russia with no ‘buts’”. REUTERS
