Polish president says Europe should be excluded from Ukraine negotiations

Polish President Karol Nawrocki has stated that discussions over Ukraine’s territorial concessions should take place exclusively between Moscow, Kyiv, and Washington.

In an interview with Wirtualna Polska, Nawrocki insisted: “Territorial matters should be discussed solely between the United States, Ukraine, and Russia,” effectively ruling out European involvement in the talks.

He also attributed Poland’s absence from the negotiations to the weakened authority of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and expressed his own interest in taking part directly in discussions with the leaders of the three countries.

Ukraine-US talks are continuing in Berlin today following fivae hours of negotiations on December 14. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was joined by a group of European leaders to demonstrate solidarity with Kyiv.

Foreign and security policy adviser Guenter Sautter, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy, and Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov faced the US delegation, including US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, at the start of their meeting in the Chancellery.

Once the talks with the US conclude, a mini-summit will bring together Britain’s Keir Starmer, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, Finland’s Alexander Stubb, Norway’s Jonas Gahr Støre, the Netherlands’s Dick Schoof, Poland’s Donald Tusk, Sweden’s Ulf Kristersson, as well as top EU and NATO officials.

Europe’s Trump whisperer and his occasional golf partner, Finland’s Stubb, told journalists on December 14 that “we’re probably closer to a peace agreement than we have been at any time during these four years.” US envoy Steve Witkoff also said that “a lot of progress was made” during the same talks.

However, key questions remain regarding Ukrainian territorial concessions in the contested east and security guarantees to prevent a third Russian aggression. Moscow has dismissed proposals put forward by Ukraine’s European partners.

By Aghakazim Guliyev