Ruslan Stefanchuk told a press conference that the agreement marked “a very important day” in the countries’ histories and thanked Poland for its continued support since Russia launched its full-scale war in 2022.
Stefanchuk said: “It is today that we begin official negotiations on the text of the agreement on security guarantees between Ukraine and Poland.
“We want this agreement to be as ambitious as possible.
“We have discussed all issues related to our cooperation, defense, protection of Ukraine, issues related to the creation of an international mechanism for the redress of grievances and cooperation between our parliaments.”
He added: “In addition, I would like to thank Madam Speaker for Poland’s active participation in generating support for the peace formula (presented by) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as for (declaring) participation at the highest level in the peace summit to be held in Switzerland on June 15-16.”
In response, Speaker of Poland’s senate, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska who is in Kyiv on a working visit, said: “We are all aware that the war in Ukraine has entered a difficult phase.
“Therefore, we are convinced that only good coordination of the political initiatives taken by individual governments and parliaments is essential to maintain the broad international support that is badly needed.
“We must maintain the continued ability of European countries and the entire democratic and Western world to support Ukraine materially, and above all to provide adequate armaments, which, we are convinced, will make it possible to completely repel a Russian attack.”
As an example of a successful initiative taken together with Stefanchuk and the presidents of more than 20 European parliaments, she pointed to an appeal made in February to the speaker of the House of Representatives in the U.S. Congress, Mike Johnson, for the passage of a bill by which the United States finally approved a key aid package of some $61 billion for Ukraine.
“We agreed with the President that we will continue to take all such measures that will allow us to solve the problems,” Kidawa-Błońska said.
The Senate Speaker added that all Polish parliamentarians will emphasize the need to bring aid to Ukraine and coordinate efforts for the international community’s solidarity with Ukraine.
“This cooperation and solidarity are very important,” she said.
In recent months, Ukraine has signed bilateral security agreements with nine European countries, including France, Germany and the U.K.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said in Brussels on April 4 that work on a Polish-Ukrainian agreement on security guarantees is advanced, but there is no date yet for its signing.
