Polish Foreign Minister: 'Putin is coming with something that will divide us in Europe'
The reversal of American sanctions against Russia, the diesel deal between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and the problems with Starlink; The US is abandoning Ukraine. And this is also felt in the neighboring countries. Radosław Sikorski, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, therefore warns: "Russia will do something that will divide us in Europe."
Sikorski was in the Netherlands at the invitation of the Clingendael Institute. His country, as a neighbor of Ukraine, increasingly faces incidents. "Poland seems to be the biggest target of Russian cyberattacks, stray drones and cruise missiles, and arson attacks," says the minister. His country has repeatedly put the military on alert after Russian attacks hit western Ukraine, close to the Polish border.
Now that Trump has blocked new sanctions against Russia, which were supposed to take effect today, American support for Ukraine is further eroding. A very bad development, according to Sikorski. "If American support for Ukraine had remained at the old level, at the level of 2024, Ukraine would now be on the offensive instead of on the defensive."
He expects Putin to do everything possible to divide Europe. "Not something you can easily respond to, but something very vague. Traditionally, the Russians operate under false flags and will only lie. So it will be something vague accompanied by a tsunami of lies. For sure," Sikorski says in an interview with Nieuwsuur.
During a meeting of the UN Security Council last month, Sikorski confronted his Russian counterpart, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov. He spoke to him personally and by his first name: "Sergei, I know you are listening. Enough is enough. Tell your boss that the limit has been reached."
"You have been trying to conquer the Donbas for more than twelve years and Kiev for over four years," said Sikorski. "You can still kill many people, but you cannot win. Do not endanger Europe and the world further. Stop destroying Russia's future."
It almost seemed like an appeal to an old friend. Sikorski and Lavrov have worked together in the past. "When Russia said it wanted to join the civilized world, we encouraged the Russians. We negotiated a Russian association agreement with the European Union. But Lavrov has changed," says Sikorski. "He now seems to be only a spokesperson for his autocratic president."
Deterring Putin
According to the Polish minister, more and more is at stake for Europe. Especially now that voices are rising – also in Europe – to stop support for Ukraine. For example, French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, of the far-right party Rassemblement National (RN), wants to end French support for Ukraine as soon as she wins the elections. She also wants to end European sanctions against Russia and prevent Ukraine from joining the EU.
In Germany, Alice Weidel, leader of the far-right German party Alternative for Germany (AfD), expresses a similar view. "This war is not in our interest. It is dangerous for our security." She believes Ukraine is too small to win a war against Russia. "This war is lost," she said.
Sikorski calls them "pro-Putin parties," which people should never vote for, he says. The parties ignore the increasingly aggressive way Russia exerts pressure near NATO territory. Countries like Poland, but also Romania, Moldova, and the Baltic states increasingly report numerous drone incursions into their airspace and territorial waters.
Sikorski is also surprised that the German Weidel does not remember history better. "East German citizens were treated badly by the Russians. Their nostalgic longing for that horrible East Germany period surprises me." Just like the war fatigue that Le Pen and Weidel apparently express. "The only people who may be war-weary are the Ukrainians," he says.
There is one thing we must do very quickly, says Sikorski. "European countries must quickly modernize their armies. Then we can deter Putin as Europe within four years."