Europe must abandon all illusions about Russia - Polish PM tells FT
By invading independent Ukraine, Vladimir Putin showed his true face, so Europe should be under no illusions towards Russia, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote in an article published by the Financial Times on Friday.
"The Russian invasion of Ukraine ends once and for all an era of illusions about the west’s relations with Moscow. What has been clear to Poland for years must now surely be clear to all western countries. Russian aggression against independent Ukraine has shown President Vladimir Putin’s true face," Morawiecki wrote.
According to the Polish prime minister, Russia can only be stopped by western solidarity with Ukraine, and the European Union and Nato must not allow, not even for a moment, the impression that they are ready to sacrifice the future of Ukraine to restore peace.
Morawiecki noted that between November and December last year, when the EU was facing the gas crisis and Poland was struggling with provocations from Belarus, he warned then that this could be a prelude to something much bigger and far more dangerous. And then, he continued, on Thursday morning, when Russian troops launched multiple attacks on Ukraine after air and missile strikes, the worst-case scenario came true.
"Russia’s actions are like dominoes, with one move triggering another," Morawiecki wrote. "And Putin's ultimate goal is clear: rebuilding Russia's imperial power... In Putin’s vision, the reassertion of Russian power requires the subordination of former Soviet republics, which are now independent states."
"Today he intends to subordinate all of Ukraine. And we should be under no illusions: this could be just the beginning. Tomorrow Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as Poland, could be next in line," Morawiecki wrote.
