Tusk says no plans to send Polish troops to Ukraine in event of ceasefire

By Barbara Erling and John Irish

Poland has no plans to send troops to Ukraine, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday, amid speculation that Western powers could put boots on the ground if a ceasefire is reached.

Tusk was speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron who was visiting Warsaw. Diplomats said the idea of sending European troops to Ukraine if there is a ceasefire and peace accord between Ukraine and Russia would be on their agenda.

"To cut off speculation about the potential presence of this or that country in Ukraine after reaching a ceasefire... decisions concerning Poland will be made in Warsaw and only in Warsaw," Tusk said. "For now, we do not plan such actions."

Macron said it was up to Ukraine to decide what concessions it wanted to make for peace, but for Europe to be secure the people of the continent as a whole must take responsibility.

"(We have) the same desire to say to the Ukrainians that... nobody can discuss for the Ukrainians in their name the concessions to be made, the points to be raised, it is up to the Ukrainians to do it, but there is no security in Europe without the Europeans," Macron told a news conference.

European powers are keen to demonstrate to Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated as U.S. president on Jan. 20, that they are willing to assume their share of the burden to end the almost three-year war in Ukraine.

Finance and foreign ministers from France, Germany and Poland are also meeting on Thursday in Warsaw and in Berlin, just weeks before Poland takes over the rotating EU presidency from Hungary.

The talks in Poland and Berlin will look at how to strengthen financial and military support for Ukraine in the immediate term and how Europe can boost defence financing, including through common debt.