dpa
Warsaw
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk signed a bilateral security agreement in Warsaw on Monday, a day before the start of a NATO summit in Washington.
“Those who defend Ukraine today are also defending themselves,” said Tusk.
Zelensky called the agreement “ambitious.” “It is capable of protecting the lives of our people and resisting Russian evil,” said Zelensky.
The treaty provides for the development of a plan by which “Russian missiles and drones fired in the direction of Poland can be shot down in Ukrainian airspace,” according to the Ukrainian president.
The agreement also states that Poland is examining the possibility of delivering further MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. Poland has already delivered 10 such fighter jets to Kiev.
According to Ukrainian media, 14 more jets are now being considered.
However, Tusk emphasized that the prerequisite is that Poland receives adequate replacements. The Polish government will also encourage Ukrainian citizens living in the country to join the Ukrainian military. Zelensky said that a unit of Ukrainian volunteers should be formed and trained in Poland, which would then fight in Ukraine.
In the early afternoon, the Ukrainian leader met his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda.
Zelensky arrived in Poland as his nation was battered by waves of powerful Russian missile attacks, with at least 30 people killed and a large children’s hospital hit in Kiev.
