Poland and Ukraine will be partners in the so-called Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today at a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in western Ukraine, the Polish news agency PAP reported, quoted by BTA.
Zelensky said that Ukraine is working to create a European system to counter ballistic missiles and that Poland would be welcomed as a partner in this initiative.
Tusk thanked Zelensky for his statement that Poland would participate in the coalition, noting that the country's absence at the establishment of the initiative with nine European partners in Paris in July was due to a misunderstanding.
Tusk said that the coalition was then focused on industrial cooperation and that Polish companies were exploring what they could contribute. He added that Poland would join once its companies were able to present a suitable industrial proposal.
The anti-ballistic coalition was created by Ukraine, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Sweden during a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing“ in Paris. Its goal is to develop new capabilities to defend against ballistic missiles.
Zelensky also announced that Ukraine was ready to share new defense technologies with Poland.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine has unique technologies developed during the war and is ready to share them with Tusk and Polish partners.
He stressed that joint projects in the security and energy sectors would strengthen the two countries and bring them closer together.
The Ukrainian president noted that the two countries are mature partners and friends, while Russia is enemy.
Zelensky also said that Ukraine has made progress in the fight against the new air threat, and explained that two Ukrainian companies have successfully conducted combat tests of high-speed interceptor drones that effectively shot down Russian jet drones of the “Shahed“ type.
Zelensky and Tusk spoke during a high-level meeting of regional leaders, where the Ukrainian president also announced the creation of the new regional format “Carpathian Eight“.