Poland, Ukraine Put Aside Differences in Common Front Against Russia

Polish and Ukrainian leaders pledged Monday to bolster their alliance against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, putting aside differences over the recent Polish blockade of Ukrainian trucks trying to enter the European Union.

In his first visit to Kyiv, newly elected Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk described Ukraine's defensive war against the Russian invasion as a "battle" between "good and evil," adding, "Poland will do everything to increase Ukraine's chances of victory in this war."

"The security of the Polish nation and the Polish state is also at stake in this fight," Tusk said.

Relations between the two countries had soured in recent months due to Polish blockades against Ukrainian trucks at the border.

Polish truckers enforced the blockade from November until last week, protesting Ukrainian truckers' permit-free access into the EU.

The EU had waived the permits system after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Polish truckers want it reintroduced, saying their earnings have taken a hit.

The truckers agreed last week to suspend their protests until March 1.

"We understand the depth of the reasons that led to this kind of situation but draw attention first and foremost to the depth of the threat that stands before our peoples," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a media briefing with Tusk.

The two leaders hailed plans for joint arms production while Zelenskyy said on X, formerly Twitter, that they had discussed a new form of cooperation aimed at larger-scale arms purchases for Ukraine. He did not provide details.

As part of a new aid package for Ukraine, Poland's new government is exploring how to make more ammunition and military equipment available to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said last week.

Tusk's surprise trip to Kyiv coincides with Ukraine's Unity Day, commemorating the unification in 1919 of western and eastern Ukraine, which has faced numerous invasions over its long history.

Zelenskyy marked the day by signing a decree offering dual Ukrainian citizenship to ethnic Ukrainians and their descendants from all around the world, apart from Russia.

Tusk is among many European leaders visiting Kyiv in recent weeks to reassure Ukraine of international support as its biggest political and military backers struggle to secure aid.

Zelenskyy lashed out at "skeptical" members of the NATO alliance holding out against Ukrainian membership in the bloc, and said his country is "fighting this skepticism."

Kyiv has made gaining control of its airspace a priority for this year and urged the West to supply more air defense systems.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's military said Monday it thwarted Russian drone attacks in multiple parts of the country overnight, while Russian officials accused Ukrainian forces of carrying out a "vicious" attack in a Russia-controlled city in eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian air force said its air defenses downed eight drones launched by Russia, including in the skies over the Mykolaiv, Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Officials say the drones came from Russia's southern Primorsko-Akhtarsk region.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Ukraine of using indiscriminate weapons and attacking civilian infrastructure, leaving at least 27 people dead in the city of Donetsk Sunday.

Peskov also said Monday that Russia is taking necessary measures after a suspected Ukrainian attack on a Baltic Sea fuel export terminal.

Ukraine's military remains tight-lipped on both attacks.

Russian drone and missile attacks have repeatedly hit Ukrainian civilian sites throughout the war that Russia began nearly two years ago, killing thousands of Ukrainian civilians.

The market strike Sunday was one of the deadliest on Russian-controlled Donetsk since Moscow attacked Ukraine in February 2022. Russia claims to have annexed the territory; a move condemned as illegal by most countries in the U.N. General Assembly.

Responding to media questions about the attack, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement Sunday that the secretary-general strongly condemns all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including the shelling of the city of Donetsk in Ukraine.

Russia remains on high alert for drone attacks against its infrastructure after its second-largest natural gas producer Novatek said Sunday it had to suspend some operations at a huge Baltic Sea fuel export terminal due to a fire started by what Ukrainian media said was a drone attack.

The giant Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland close to the border with Estonia and about 170 kilometers west of St. Petersburg, ships oil and gas products to international markets.