Kiev, 22 January 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The new Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose pro-European government took office in December, arrived in Kiev for surprise talks on Monday aimed at rallying Western support for Ukraine.

Tusk arrived in the Ukrainian capital by train on Monday morning - without prior public announcement for security reasons.

Tusk said he wants to work with the Kiev leadership to mobilize more Western military aid for Ukraine, which has been fending off Russia's full-scale invasion for almost two years.

This was one of the main objectives of his visit, Tusk said.

He said that Poland was "Ukraine's most reliable and stable ally in this deadly fight against evil."

The Russian invasion affects the security of the whole world, he said, but especially Poland because of its geographical proximity. The two countries share a border of some 530 kilometres.

"There is nothing more important than supporting Ukraine in its war efforts against the Russian attack," Tusk said.

Poland is one of Ukraine's staunchest allies. It has provided military support and has taken in the largest number of refugees since the war began.

The relations have been strained, however, by Polish lorry drivers and farmers who feel threatened by a relaxed policy for Ukrainian freight traffic which they say has undercut prices and threatened their livelihoods.

Poland is a member of the European Union, while Ukraine is not.

"We will talk about this in a spirit of friendship in order to solve these problems as quickly as possible," Tusk told reporters ahead of his meetings with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, according to the PAP agency.

During his visit, Tusk is also expected to commemorate Ukrainian soldiers who have been killed during the war against Russia.

Around midday, an air alert was triggered in Kiev and throughout Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian air force, a fighter jet that could fire missiles had taken off from a Russian base on the Volga.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's military said Monday morning its forces had completely repelled an overnight Russian drone attack.

All eight Iranian-designed Shahed kamikaze drones were intercepted after being launched from the Russian coast of the Sea of Azov, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

The drones were shot down over the southern Ukrainian regions of Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a large-scale Russian invasion for almost two years. Drone attacks are a near-nightly occurrence.

At the turn of the year, the Russian armed forces fiercely bombarded Ukraine using a combination of various types of missiles and drones.

In mid-January, however, a Russian A-50 early warning reconnaissance aircraft and an Il-22M flying command centre were shot down. This appears to have dealt a short-term blow to Russia, as the aircraft are needed by Moscow to wage heavy aerial attacks. Since then, there have been no combined missile and drone attacks on Ukraine.

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