Polish leader urges Ukraine to compromise

(MENAFN) Polish President Andrzej Duda has stated that Ukraine will need to make compromises in order to achieve a lasting peace settlement with Russia. In an interview with Euronews on Thursday, Duda emphasized that peace must be based on mutual concessions from both sides.

Poland has been a strong supporter of Ukraine in its conflict with Moscow. However, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has opposed any peace agreements that would require Ukraine to give up territory.

In the interview, Duda shared his personal belief that both sides will need to yield in some way, with Ukraine also expected to make concessions. “It has to be a compromise… Ukraine will also have to give in in some sense,” Duda remarked.

Regarding US-led peace efforts, Duda suggested that only US President Donald Trump, whom he described as someone who “plays very tough,” is capable of effectively mediating an end to the conflict. Duda was the first European Union leader to meet Trump in person following his inauguration in January.

Trump, acting as a mediator, is said to have presented a peace framework to Kiev earlier this week, which reportedly included the recognition of Crimea as Russian. The peninsula, which has a majority ethnic Russian population, voted to rejoin Russia in a 2014 referendum following a Western-backed coup in Kiev.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky reaffirmed on Wednesday that Kiev will never officially recognize Crimea as part of Russia, a statement that drew a sharp response from Trump.

Moscow, meanwhile, has ruled out any territorial concessions, stating that the status of Crimea and the four other regions that joined Russia after referendums in 2022 is not open to negotiation. Russia insists that any peace agreement must acknowledge the “reality on the ground.”

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