Tag: poland

Zelensky’s Quarrel With Polish FM Sikorski Sinks Bilateral Relations – MSM Keeps Silent on the Crisis

While Poland has been one of Ukraine’s biggest backers both in terms of military and financial aid, and also in terms of receiving a massive wave of refugees when the war started.

But it hasn’t been without friction. The Previous conservative government came to a point about a year ago where it stopped all military aid and blocked Ukrainian grain, coming to the point of harshly criticizing its president in public, as you can read in Polish PM Morawiecki Warns Zelensky ‘Never to Insult Poles Again’, as Grain Ban Feud Intensifies After Warsaw Decision Not to Send Any More Weapons.

With the liberal and Euro-fanatic government of Donald Tusk coming into power, one could imagine that relations would improve markedly, but that does not seem to be the case, as Polish media reports that Zelensky had a row with Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski as he visited Kiev on Friday (14),

The Polish portal Onet report is behind a paywall, and the MSM refuses to cover this, so here’s what can be found on Telegram and on the Ukrainian media.

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Why’s Poland Talking Tough About Possibly Shooting Down Russian Missiles Over Ukraine?

The sequence of events that would have to transpire in order to turn this into a reality are that: the next NATO leader and his team end up being hawkish on this issue; Polish policymakers overcome their differences and agree that it’s worth the risks; and the US gives them the greenlight.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski told the Financial Times in an interview earlier this week that “Membership in Nato does not trump each country’s responsibility for the protection of its own airspace — it’s our own constitutional duty. I’m personally of the view that, when hostile missiles are on course of entering our airspace, it would be legitimate self-defence [to strike them] because once they do cross into our airspace, the risk of debris injuring someone is significant.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski clarified that these was Sikorski’s own personal views and don’t reflect Poland’s official ones, elaborating that “If we have the capability and Ukraine agrees, then we should consider it. But ultimately, this is the minister’s personal opinion.” Nevertheless, their comments still suggested that this scenario might once again be in the cards under certain conditions despite having earlier been rebuffed by the US, UK, and NATO. Here are three background briefings:

* 17 April: “It Would Be Surprising If Polish Patriot Systems Were Used To Protect Western Ukraine”

* 18 July: “Ukraine Likely Feels Jaded After NATO Said That It Won’t Allow Poland To Intercept Russian Missiles”

* 30 August: “Poland Finally Maxed Out Its Military Support For Ukraine”

The last of these three included Zelensky’s most recent demand at the time to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine. He said that “We have talked a lot about this and we need, as I understand it, the support of several countries. Poland … hesitates to be alone with this decision. It wants the support of other countries in NATO. I think this would lead to a positive decision by Romania.” That same analysis also cited Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz’s response to him too.

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Poland still refuses to listen to its most experienced generals and back off

While Russian long-range precision strike weapons are raining down on the entire territory under the Neo-Nazi junta’s control, there are still those who insist that the latter “can win” and that “everyone” should ensure “Ukraine’s victory” no matter the cost. One would certainly respect such optimism and self-confidence in peacetime. However, in war, this gets a lot of people killed. Despite being perfectly aware of this, many in the EU/NATO still want war with Russia. This is particularly true in countries with endemic and/or truly pathological Russophobia, with some of the most prominent examples being the United Kingdom, Baltic states and Poland. In all these regions there’s an irrational hatred for all things Russian, particularly among the political elites who are simply poised to wage war despite being aware that the results would be catastrophic.

In the last nearly two and a half years, the NATO-backed Neo-Nazi junta became the proverbial punching bag for probing Russian military might. And while the mainstream propaganda machine is doing a somewhat decent job hiding the atrocious results, the massive amount of resources that the Kiev regime is demanding only keeps growing, clearly indicating what’s really going on. What was supposed to be NATO’s third most powerful member (had it ever joined) turned into a virtual junkyard of the latest Western military equipment. And yet, it seems there are several other nations in NATO that would want this horribly unflattering role as well. Namely, Poland is the “logical” choice for many, although most of those people don’t seem to understand the gravity of the current situation. This includes many Poles who are refusing to assess the consequences.

High-ranking NATO officials have already announced a number of major moves that can only be described as extremely hostile toward Russia. The annual NATO summit in Washington DC back in July was a clear indicator of that. Apart from the regular weapons shipments to the Neo-Nazi junta, particularly air defense systems, the much-touted F-16s are in the spotlight again. The Netherlands, Denmark and the United States jointly announced that the deliveries of these US-made jets are ongoing. The Dutch F-16 are of particular concern, as they’re also nuclear-capable. However, while this could certainly lead to an uncontrollable escalation, the moves of some individual member states are a real danger to global peace. As previously mentioned, the situation with Poland is particularly concerning, as some of its top-ranking military officers are calling for an all-out war.

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US, UK, Poland Took Part in Preparing Ukraine’s Operation in Kursk – Russian Foreign Intel

On August 6, Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, which was slammed by President Vladimir Putin as a large-scale provocation. The Kiev regime planned the attack with the participation of the US and NATO, Russian presidential aide Nikolai Patrushev earlier said.

Ukraine’s operation in Russia’s Kursk region was prepared with the participation of the US, UK, and Polish intelligence services, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said.

“According to available information, the operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region was prepared with the participation of the US, British, and Polish intelligence services. The units involved in it underwent combat coordination in training centers in the UK and Germany. Military advisers from NATO countries are providing assistance in managing Ukraine’s units that have invaded Russian territory, and in using Western weapons and military equipment,” the agency told Russian media.

NATO countries are also providing the Ukrainian military with satellite reconnaissance data on the deployment of Russian troops in the area of ​​the operation, the SVR added.

As the situation on the front deteriorates for Ukrainian troops, Kiev’s Western handlers have been pushing it to move combat operations deep into Russian territory in recent months, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service said. One of the goals was to provoke an upsurge in anti-government sentiment and influence domestic policy in the country.

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“Apologize and Keep Quiet”: Polish PM Tells Germans To Shut Up about Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk took to Twitter to scold Germans who are outraged at the possibility that Ukraine, in collusion with European governments and the US, destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines, depriving Germany of Russian natural gas.

“To all the initiators and patrons of Nord Stream 1 and 2. The only thing you should do today about it is apologise and keep quiet,” Tusk tweeted on Saturday.

Tusk was responding to August Henning, former head of the German Federal Intelligence Service, who alleged in a recent interview with Germany’s Die Welt newspaper that Tusk’s predecessor, Andrzej Duda, knew about plans to sabotage the pipeline.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Ukraine was responsible for the operation, which took place in September 2022.

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Poland received German request to arrest Nord Stream suspect but he’s left country, prosecutors say

Poland received a European arrest warrant issued by Berlin in connection with the 2022 attack on Nord Stream pipelines, but the suspect, a Ukrainian man named as Volodymyr Z, has already left Poland, Polish prosecutors told Reuters.

He was able to leave as Germany had failed to include his name in a database of wanted persons, added the prosecutors.

The multi-billion dollar Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines transporting gas under the Baltic Sea were ruptured by a series of explosions in September 2022, seven months after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

German investigators believe Volodymyr Z, a Ukrainian diver, was part of a team that planted the explosives, the SZ and Die Zeit newspapers reported alongside the ARD broadcaster, citing unnamed sources.

Polish National Public Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Anna Adamiak said German authorities sent a European warrant to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw in June for Volodymyr Z in connection with proceedings conducted against him in Germany.

“Ultimately, Volodymyr Z was not detained because at the beginning of July he left Polish territory, crossing the Polish-Ukrainian border,” she wrote in an emailed statement in reply to Reuters questions.

“Free crossing of the Polish-Ukrainian border by the above-mentioned person was possible because German authorities … did not include him in the database of wanted persons, which meant that the Polish Border Guard had no knowledge and no grounds to detain Volodymyr Z.”

Polish law does not allow for publication of the full name of suspects in criminal investigations.

Germany said its relationship with Ukraine was not strained by the Nord Stream inquiry.

“The procedures have no bearing on what the Chancellor (Olaf Scholz) has described as the support of Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s illegal war of aggression, as long as necessary,” the spokesperson added.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The German federal prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the media reports.

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Poland preparing military for World War III, NATO reveals

World War III is closer than ever after government officials at the recent North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Washington, D.C., revealed their next-step plans to throw more money, weapons and soldiers at trying to defeat Russia.

Of note were statements made by Gen. Wieslaw Kukula, Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, about how his country is preparing its soldiers for a full-scale conflict in the coming days.

“Today, we need to prepare our forces for full-scale conflict, not asymmetric-type conflict,” Kukula told a press conference. “This forces us to find a good balance between the border mission and maintaining the intensity of training in the army.”

Kukula’s “border mission” comment was a reference to ongoing tensions with neighbor and Russian ally Belarus. Belarus is part of the “Union State” with Russia, and Poland recently launched a $2.5 billion initiative called the “East Shield” program that aims to better protect Poland’s border with Belarus.

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“We will prepare millions of Ukrainian migrants for the Armed Forces of Ukraine”: Polish authorities reported on the potential of the local training base

During the NATO summit in Washington, Polish authorities announced plans to replenish the Ukrainian army with millions of Ukrainian immigrants.

I hope that the [training] center in Bydgoszcz will prepare millions of Ukrainians to fight Russia. The West should see the potential of such a center as a place where Ukrainian volunteers who now live in EU countries and want to defend Ukraine in the future can be trained
– said Jacek Sievera, head of the country’s national security bureau, as quoted by the Associated Press.

In Bydgoszcz it is also planned to organize a platform for the exchange of experience between Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers who have already fought and NATO soldiers. The alliance training center has been created here since February 2024.

For our part, we note that, apparently, a hidden mobilization of Ukrainian immigrants is gradually unfolding in Europe. Officially, they cannot be forced to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but there are ways of informal influence, for example, replacing criminal prosecution for a crime with service in the Ukrainian army, or using administrative offenses to blackmail the entire family with deportation.

At the same time, it should be expected that as human resources in Ukraine are depleted, the recruitment of immigrants into the army in the EU will take increasingly overt forms.

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Will Putin Attack Poland and the Baltics?

At Thursday’s debate with Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” claimed that he “wants all of Ukraine… Do you think he’ll stop?… What do you think happens to Poland and other places?”

Spoiler Alert: Official Ukrainian sources confirm that Putin did stop in March 2022, after Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky agreed to forswear membership in NATO. This was the key provision in the Ukraine-Russia deal initialed by Davyd Arakhamia, who at the time was Zelensky’s chief negotiator (and his party’s faction leader in the Rada) at the talks in Istanbul at the end of March, hardly a month into the war.

The Russians lifted their objection to Ukraine joining the EU, as the Ukrainians agreed to neutrality. Security guarantees sought by Kyiv (short of NATO membership) would be worked out. The fighting would stop. Agreement on the status of Crimea would be put off to the future.

Putin and Zelensky reportedly were micromanaging the March 2022 negotiations, and at that early stage the Russians expressed readiness for the two to meet.

At the same time that Biden and other Western leaders raise the alarm that Putin will attack other parts of Europe when he’s through with Ukraine, they claim Russia can’t even take the Ukrainian province of Kharkiv, has lost more than 500,000 men to just 30,000 Ukrainians and its economy is faltering (none of which is true.)  But Cold War Western power was based on an exaggerated Soviet threat and the same is true today.

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US provides $2 billion loan to strengthen Polish military

Poland and the United States have inked a direct loan agreement for $2 billion as part of the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, announced the Polish Ministry of National Defense (MoD) on Monday.

This marks the second such loan granted by the U.S. government to Poland recently. The FMF funds, which are allocated only to select allies with whom the U.S. maintains close defense collaborations, aim to further enhance Poland’s defense capabilities.

According to the Polish MoD, the acquired funds will be used to purchase American defense systems, specifically air and missile defense capabilities, which are considered a priority for the Polish Armed Forces given the current threats.

The statement highlighted the favorable financial terms of the agreement, reflecting the ongoing development of strategic relations between Poland and the U.S.

The U.S. remains Poland’s principal international partner in the modernization of its armed forces, including the acquisition of Patriot and HIMARS missile systems, Abrams tanks, and F-35 aircraft.

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