Tusk was speaking prior to the two-day Nordic-Baltic Summit in Sweden, which will focus on regional security and cooperation as well as on unified support for Ukraine.

The Baltic Sea has become a focus of security concern following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last week two undersea internet cables in the Baltic were damaged in what may have been an attack carried out, according to some accusers, Russia.

“At the summit, I will try to convince our partners about the need for immediately creating a formula aimed at securing and policing the Baltic Sea waters, a joint venture of the countries in the Baltic Sea region which feel the same sense of threat when it comes to Russia,” Tusk said before departing for Harpsund, near Stockholm.

“The West must have a unified stance on support for Ukraine and common security,” he added.

Trans-Atlantic relations will be another focus of the event.

“We are not in a position to foresee how American policy will evolve in the coming months,” Tusk said. “Of course we must take care of relations with the United States, but Europe must become independent.”

He said that if Europe was divided, Russia would constitute a threat to every single country.

“This era of fear and uncertainty in the face of Russia must end,” he said. “Next to Europe, Russia is a technological, financial and economic dwarf.”