Tusk told a news conference he had urged Kyiv to take ownership of the dispute. "I made efforts so that the Ukrainian side would take the initiative and assume responsibility for this crisis — and therefore also for the ways out of it", he said.
The prime minister said he had also reached out directly to Nawrocki, asking him not to escalate from the Polish side and to give Kyiv space to either reverse the decision or "take initiatives that would make it at least less painful from our point of view".
Tusk stopped short of blaming Zelensky for deliberate provocation. "I do not have the impression that President Zelensky's decision to name that military unit was intended as a blow against Poland", he said, but added that he faulted Kyiv for "a lack of historical sensitivity and judgment" and a failure to think through shared interests.
He was firm that Poland would not use Ukraine's EU accession path as leverage. "Poland will support Ukraine on its road to Europe on terms that are European and that are safe and beneficial for Poland", he said, adding there would be "no preferential treatment".
Tusk also said Ukraine's defeat in its war with Russia was not an option Poland could accept. "If Ukraine were to lose this war, Poland would find itself in a dramatically more difficult situation", he warned.
On the sidelines of the crisis, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's presidential administration, visited Warsaw last weekend for talks with Polish government and presidential representatives. Tusk said he also detected "a moment of reflection" in the Ukrainian presidential office, calling it "a good sign".
Asked about Zelensky's planned attendance at a Ukraine reconstruction conference in Gdańsk on June 25–26, Tusk said confirmation was unnecessary, as the Ukrainian president is co-hosting the event.
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Source: PAP