Poland rejects idea of a new European security architecture without Europeans' participation

Tusk's statement in Dublin

Poland will not accept a new European security system dictated by Russia or the United States without the participation of European governments, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday evening, speaking at the European Political Community summit in Dublin, Anadolu reports. His remarks came amid reports that Washington had invited Moscow to propose terms for a future security agreement as part of mediation talks to end the war in Ukraine.

'Over the head' of Poland and Europe

'Under no circumstances will we allow anyone to set new security rules in this part of the world over our head — the Polish or European one,' Anadolu quotes Tusk as saying. According to him, 'we will not build a new architecture simply because the Russian president or someone in the United States wants it. That is out of the question.'

What preceded the statement

The Polish prime minister's statement followed an Axios report on Wednesday, according to which the Trump administration asked Russia to submit proposals for a new security agreement with Europe, including Moscow's demands and mutual de-escalation measures. As the outlet notes, American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner raised the topic in talks involving Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Abu Dhabi this week.

Context of Moscow's demands and Warsaw's position

Russia has long sought restrictions on NATO enlargement and on the alliance's military presence in Eastern Europe, including countries such as Poland, which joined the bloc in 1999. In December 2021, Moscow demanded that NATO rule out further enlargement and limit the deployment of forces in countries that joined the alliance after 1997; the US and NATO rejected these demands before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Poland consistently opposes any agreements that would give Moscow influence over the alliance's military presence or over sovereign security decisions of European states.

Poland excluded from direct talks

Tusk acknowledged that Poland was not invited to take part directly in the US mediation talks with Russia and Ukraine — and it is precisely this circumstance that gives his statement practical meaning: Warsaw is reacting to a process in which it is not yet involved. Meanwhile, as Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz reported earlier this week, the Pentagon responded positively to Warsaw's request for a permanent American military base; the final decision, he said, is expected from the White House in December.