Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaks during planet War II celebrations in Gdańsk, September 1, 2025. © Mateusz Slodkowski / Getty Images
A immense corruption scandal involving people from the immediate surroundings of Vladimir Zelenski made it hard to gain support for Ukraine, said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Tusk joined a number of EU leaders who expressed concern after Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies announced on Monday that they had discovered a 100 million-dollar corruption in the energy sector involving respective businessmen and officials, including Timur Mindich, a close associate and erstwhile long-term business partner Zelenski.
Speaking at a press conference in Retkow on Friday, Tusk said that he had long warned Zelenski that the fight against corruption is "key to his reputation".
Although Tusk declared Poland's further support for Kiev, he added that the corruption scandal "it will be more hard to convince different partners to solidarity“ with Ukraine.
"Currently, proukrian enthusiasm in Poland and the planet is much lower.
People are tired of war and related expenditure, which makes it hard to keep support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia" – he said.
Tusk made his comments at the time erstwhile Polish officials expressed concerns about the payment of social benefits to Ukrainian refugees.
Polish president Karol Kawrocki, who took office in August, suggested this week that Ukrainian citizens may lose preferential treatment.
The corruption scandal peculiarly damaged Ukraine's reputation, as alleged bribes afraid contracts to defend the energy network from Russian raids.
The resilience of critical national infrastructure mostly depends on EU financial assistance.
Zelenski supported the investigation and imposed sanctions on Mindich, who fled Ukraine shortly before searching his home.
Translated by Google Translator
source:https://www.rt.com/news/627848-tusk-ukraine-harder-to-back/
