President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met in Bukovel on 18 September at the inaugural Carpathian 8 summit. They discussed new Polish support packages for Ukraine, maintaining unity in efforts to end the war, and strengthening anti-missile and anti-ballistic defence. Kyiv proposed sharing technology and expertise with Warsaw within the framework of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition.
Briefly about the main points
- Poland has prepared new «rather substantial» support packages for Ukraine.
- Tusk provided Zelenskyy with details of the planned aid.
- The parties discussed working together to bring the war to an end.
- Kyiv is prepared to share its anti-ballistic defence technology with Poland.
- The C8 participants agreed on a declaration on coordination within the Carpathian format.
The Polish Prime Minister has provided details of the planned support
Donald Tusk confirmed that Poland had prepared new «quite substantial» support packages for Ukraine. He said that he had passed on the details of this aid To Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the negotiations.
The Ukrainian President thanked the Polish side for the new package. The parties also identified maintaining unity and working together to end the war as one of the key priorities.
Poland is one of Ukraine’s partners in providing military, logistical and political support. In July, the Polish Ministry of National Defence reported that the total value of aid provided to Ukraine amounted to 16.45 billion zlotys, and that over 30,000 Ukrainian military personnel had taken part in training exercises organised with Poland’s involvement.
Kyiv is offering Poland its expertise and technology in the field of missile defence
Tusk specifically emphasised the need to develop more effective missile defence and anti-ballistic defence systems. He linked this priority not only to the defence of Ukraine, but also to the security of Poland and the whole of Europe.
Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is ready to share its own experience and technologies with its Polish partners within the framework of Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition. «We will establish a European anti-ballistic missile system,» he said, adding that the parties plan to discuss the details of their future cooperation.
The Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition was established in July by Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Its declaration provides for common technical requirements, research and data sharing; it is also open to other states. No announcement was made during the meeting regarding Poland’s formal accession to the coalition.
Carpathian 8 is set to bring together the region’s security and economic projects
The meeting took place as part of the new Carpathian 8 regional format, whose inaugural summit runs until 20 September. It comprises Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Austria and Serbia.
The format focuses on security cooperation, energy, logistics, investment, economic development and cross-border projects. At the opening of the summit, Zelenskyy announced that the participants had agreed on a joint declaration expressing their readiness to coordinate within the Carpathian format.
The President also stated that Ukraine was ready to develop mutually beneficial projects with Poland.
