By Alan Charlish and Barbara Erling
WARSAW, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki in Warsaw on Friday, as the Ukrainian leader tries to shore up relations with a key ally at a crucial moment for Kyiv’s war effort.
The visit comes just as European Union leaders that United States President Donald Trump recently branded “weak” have agreed to borrow cash to fund Ukraine for the next two years, ensuring it can continue its fight against Russia’s invasion.
While there is broad agreement in Warsaw that aid for Kyiv is essential in order to keep Russian forces away from Poland’s borders, hardening attitudes towards Ukrainian refugees have fuelled simmering tensions.
In a nod to rising anti-Ukrainian sentiment among some right-wing voters, nationalist Nawrocki had insisted that Zelenskiy should visit Warsaw to thank Poland for its support before he would consider visiting Kyiv.
“We should support Ukraine, and we do,” Nawrocki said in an interview with the wp.pl news website published on Monday.
“At the same time, we should… ensure that Ukraine treats Poland as a partner. The conflict has been going on for nearly four years, and I have the impression that we, Poles, often don’t feel like partners in this relationship.”
Nawrocki’s approach to relations with Kyiv is much cooler than that of his predecessor Andrzej Duda, and reflects the increasing fractures on the right of Polish politics.
POLITICAL DIVISION
Zelenskiy said maintaining relations with Poland was “very important” when confirming Friday’s visit.
Wojciech Przybylski, head of the Res Publica Foundation think tank, believes that Nawrocki, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, could prove valuable to the Ukrainian president.
“Zelenskiy needs allies and circles who have some ties to Donald Trump… so here, Nawrocki is showing that he holds the cards and is thus trying to establish himself as a significant player in Ukraine,” he said.
While Nawrocki’s presidential election campaign this year was backed by Poland’s largest nationalist opposition party PiS, his eventual victory in June’s run-off vote owed much to supporters of far-right parties who say Poland has given Ukraine too much support.
Such views are becoming increasingly common. A Pollster survey for the Super Express tabloid published on Tuesday found that 57% of respondents had a negative opinion about Poland’s decision to spend $100 million on U.S. arms for Ukraine.
Poland’s approach to the war in Ukraine also forms part of the bitter feud at the heart of Polish politics between MAGA-enthusiast Nawrocki and centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a former European Council president.
Tusk said on Thursday that he would meet Zelenskiy in Warsaw after returning from the summit.
He has previously berated right-wing parties over their attitude to Ukraine, telling them to “stand by Ukraine’s side in its war with Ukraine with no ‘buts'”.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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