Worthy Christian News > World News > Poland: ‘Peace Talks On Ukraine Might Start This Winter’ As Causalities Hit 1 Million (Worthy News Focus)

Poland: ‘Peace Talks On Ukraine Might Start This Winter’ As Causalities Hit 1 Million (Worthy News Focus)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

WARSAW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Poland’s prime minister suggested Tuesday that peace talks on the war in Ukraine might start within weeks and said Warsaw wants to play a leading role in ending Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War Two.

Donald Tusk spoke amid reports that several people were killed and injured in Russian missile strikes on a private clinic and other sites in Ukraine on Tuesday.

The Polish leader told journalists he would discuss the crisis with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who expressed concern about Russia capturing Ukrainian territory in a war that is thought to have killed and injured up to 1 million people, most of them soldiers.

Tusk stressed that his country wants to be heavily involved in peace negotiations to stop the nearly three-year-old armed conflict when it takes over the European Union’s rotating presidency on January 1.

Poland seems to be in a better position to do so than Hungary, which currently holds the EU presidency.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán tried to talk peace in Kyiv, Moscow, and even Beijing but lacked EU backing in part due to his perceived pro-Kremlin views and concerns about the rule of law in Hungary.

Yet Tusk sounded more optimistic, saying that “Our [EU] presidency will notably be co-responsible for what the political landscape will look like, perhaps how the situation will look during [peace] negotiations, which could begin – though there are still question marks – in the winter [in Europe] of this year,” Tusk told media.

MEETING ZELENSKY

“Today, I will have the chance to talk about this with [Ukrainian] President Volodymyr Zelensky,” he added

Tusk said that following Tuesday’s talks with Zelensky, he would welcome French President Emmanuel Macron to Poland on Thursday.

Poland has been a strong Ukraine supporter since Russia invaded nearly three years ago.

The EU and NATO military alliance member state is seen as a crucial logistics hub for Western military aid to Kyiv. Tusk said, “Macron will be in town the day after tomorrow. He will want to inform us of the results of the Paris talks.”

Macron, Zelenskyy, and U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump held a three-way meeting on Saturday in Paris that Tusk described as “short but important.”

Tusk noted that German opposition leader Friedrich Merz—who leads opinion polls ahead of February elections—will also visit Poland after a visit to Kyiv.

Additionally, the prime minister said he was “in constant contact” with Scandinavian and Baltic allies, “who see in Poland and Poland’s [EU] presidency a leader” in peace-building initiatives between Ukraine and Russia. “I spoke with the Swedish prime minister, and in a dozen hours, the Estonian prime minister will be here in Warsaw,” added Tusk.

MORE BATTLES

However, in Ukraine, on the battlefields and beyond, there were no signs of peace coming soon, with at least three people being killed and five hurt in a Russian missile strike that destroyed a private clinic in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, local governor Ivan Fedorov said.

Further missile attacks on Ukraine’s north-eastern region of Kharkiv injured 10 people and damaged an administrative building, local authorities said Tuesday.

Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov confirmed that Russian forces carried out two missile attacks on the town of Zlatopil.

He explained that the first strike damaged non-residential buildings and cars, while the second damaged an administrative building.

Russia has hit the Kharkiv border region with frequent attacks since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The attacks underscored concerns that a deal with Russia to end the conflict is not guaranteed, despite Ukraine warming this week to potential negotiations.

Professor Tim Willasey-Wilsey from King’s College London said that with Russia gaining ground in Ukraine’s east, Russian President Vladimir “Putin may well think, why don’t I just carry on?”

STAGGERING TOLL

That policy was feared to add to the staggering death toll on both sides. Some 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, Volodymyr Zelensky said in recent days in a rare admission of the nation’s casualties.

He said 370,000 injuries had been reported, though this figure included soldiers who had been hurt more than once, and some of the injuries were said to be minor.

Zelensky also claimed that 198,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and a further 550,000 wounded.

While both Kyiv and Moscow have regularly published estimates of the other side’s losses, they have been reluctant to detail their own.

The new figure marks a significant increase in Ukrainian deaths since the start of the year, military observers suggested. The last time Zelensky gave an update on Ukraine’s casualties was in February when he put deaths at 31,000.

The Ukrainian leader’s admission came after incoming U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump wrote on social media that Ukraine had “ridiculously lost” 400,000 soldiers, while close to 600,000 Russians had been killed or wounded. Trump did not state where these figures were from.

Yet Zelensky’s estimates of Russian losses are similar to those provided by senior Western officials, who estimate Russia has suffered around 800,000 casualties, both killed and injured.

‘NEEDLESSLY WASTED’

With much more bloodshed expected, Trump has long made clear he wants to bring an end to the war.

Responding to Trump’s call for an immediate ceasefire, Moscow said it was open to negotiations, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin had set the conditions for a cessation of hostilities in June.

Putin’s demands included Ukraine giving up more of its territory and abandoning ambitions to join NATO, which Kyiv has rejected.

Despite their disagreements, Trump, soon to be the deal-maker-in-chief, wants both sides to agree on ending the ongoing killings.

He said too many lives had been “needlessly wasted,” wiping out generations.

Poland seems to share that view. It hopes its neighbors will begin working towards peace this Christmas season.