Tusk Says Europe Will Not Accept Deal Dictated by U.S. or Russia
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters in Dublin that Europe will not let Washington or Moscow set new security rules “over our heads,” after reports the United States asked Russia to propose a continental security deal.
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At a European Political Community summit in the Irish capital on Thursday, the Polish leader warned that a new security order would not be built simply because President Vladimir Putin, “or someone in the United States, wants it.”
“That is out of the question,” Tusk said.
Rules Set Over Our Heads
“Under no circumstances will we allow anyone to establish new security rules in this part of the world over our heads, Polish or European,” he told reporters.
Tusk also said describing the U.S.-brokered discussions between Moscow and Kyiv as “negotiations” was an exaggeration, The Irish Times reported.
The Chancellery of the Prime Minister later posted the same warning in Polish, saying no one would be allowed to set those rules “over Polish and European heads.”
Washington Asks Moscow for Terms
His comments followed an Axios report on Wednesday that the Trump administration had asked Russia to submit proposals for a new security agreement with Europe.
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner raised the idea during talks with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Abu Dhabi earlier this week, the report said. Bild has separately reported that Russia used those talks to demand that Finland leave NATO.
Tusk said European leaders had discussed the situation in Abu Dhabi and that Ukraine needed “very unified support from Europe, because the goals of American diplomacy may differ from Europe’s goals.”
He acknowledged that Poland had not been invited to the U.S.-mediated talks.
Europe Seeks a Seat
Late on Thursday, Witkoff and Kushner flew from a meeting with Putin in Moscow to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Dublin. Kushner later said a deal could not be concluded without Europeans at the table and that Putin was “willing to give it a try.”
European Council President António Costa said “the future of European security can never be discussed without Europe.” On Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged President Donald Trump not to spring surprises at expected talks with Putin in China next week.
Tusk said he did not want Poland to join “a race of prime ministers and presidents” over who should represent Europe, arguing that the European Union already has institutions.
Ukraine’s Sovereignty Comes First
Tusk said he saw no cracks among EU states on the core point: supporting Ukraine in talks that must leave Kyiv’s sovereignty intact and must not change the security architecture in Eastern Europe.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the EU seemed “all over the place” on Ukraine and should speak with a single voice.
Moscow has long sought limits on NATO’s presence in Eastern Europe. The United States and NATO rejected those demands before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kamer Kurunç
Kamer Kurunç is the Team Leader of Clash Report and has led the outlet for four years. He oversees its breaking world news coverage, from the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war to defense and global politics. His focus is fast, verified, source-based reporting. Follow him on X at @kamerknc.
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