Tusk: I feel bittersweet satisfaction that my long-standing warnings about Russia and Putin have come true

Ukraine is ready to continue fighting Russia for another three years, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in an interview with the "Sunday Times" newspaper, quoted by BNR, noting that he feels "bittersweet satisfaction" that his long-standing warnings about Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin have come true.

Donald Tusk said Ukraine was ready to fight Russia for two or three years, but worried the war would drag on for a decade. He also warned that Britain would be in the "fireline" if the Kremlin attacked a NATO country, and said he was "shocked" from the level of public complacency about the UK's safety.

Tusk said Ukraine had the right to attack Russian-linked targets anywhere in Europe after a Warsaw court blocked a German request earlier this month to extradite a Ukrainian diver accused by Russia of involvement in the bombing of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in 2022. But he revealed that Kiev was concerned about the damage the war would do to its population and economy if it dragged on for more than a few years.

"I have no doubt that Ukraine will survive as an independent state. Now the main question is how many victims we will see," the Polish president said. The conflict is also hurting Russia's economy, which Tusk said "has no chance of surviving" in the long term and faces "dramatic" problems compounded by new oil sanctions imposed by the United States.

But he warned that caution was needed, as internal turmoil resulting from new economic pressure could make President Putin more aggressive. Tusk also said that Polish security services were uncovering Russian-organized sabotage plots every week.

The Polish prime minister said illegal migration was one of the biggest threats facing the West, and that the European Convention on Human Rights needed an urgent overhaul.

According to Tusk, Brexit was "one of the biggest mistakes in recent shared history" and Poland was on track to surpass the UK's standard of living within a few years.