Overview

• Lech Wałęsa, a Nobel laureate and former Polish president, criticized Donald Trump for his treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a recent Oval Office meeting.
• Wałęsa, along with 38 other former Polish political prisoners, signed a letter expressing 'horror and distaste' over Trump's demands for Zelensky to show greater gratitude for U.S. aid.
• The letter compared the atmosphere of the meeting to interrogations and trials under Poland’s communist regime, where authorities demanded compliance and gratitude from dissidents.
• The signatories emphasized that gratitude should be directed toward Ukrainian soldiers defending shared democratic values against Russia’s invasion, not tied to political or material exchanges.
• The White House has not commented on the letter, while Zelensky continues to seek stronger U.S. security guarantees and resists concessions to Russia in ongoing conflict negotiations.