Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Feb. 20 proposed a three-point plan to strengthen Ukraine in its fight against Russia's full-scale invasion and enhance European security.
Tusk currently represents the rotating presidency of the EU Council. European leaders have called for increased support for Ukraine and are rethinking security in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to stop supporting security on the continent.
Tusk renewed calls to finance Ukraine aid with funds from Russian frozen assets, the majority of which are held in EU banks.
"Let's finance our aid for Ukraine from the Russian frozen assets," he said in a social media post on Feb. 20.
"Let's strengthen air policing, the Baltic sentry, and the EU borders with Russia. Let's swiftly adopt new fiscal measures to immediately fund security and defense."
Tusk's comments come as a shift in U.S. foreign policy towards Ukraine is pushing European officials to consider stepping up support for Kyiv and further toughening their stance on Russia.
The U.S. ended a years-long policy of isolating Moscow when American and Russian officials sat down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Feb. 18 for preliminary talks about ending the war in Ukraine. Neither Ukraine nor Europe were represented at the talks.
Trump previously spoke directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Feb. 12, holding a separate phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky the same day. The U.S. President has vowed to bring about a speedy end to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"We have no doubt that the threat to Europe is Vladimir Putin's Russia, Trump's phone call to Putin was a mistake," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Feb. 16.
The EU introduced a 16th sanctions package against Russia on Feb. 19, targeting Russian aluminum and oil exports in response to Moscow's continued armed aggression against Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
