18:26 20.12.2021

I absolutely oppose any policy of concessions regarding Russia - President of Poland

2 min read
I absolutely oppose any policy of concessions regarding Russia - President of Poland

Polish President Andrzej Duda said that he opposes any policy of concessions towards Russia.

"I am absolutely against any policy of concessions regarding Russia, it is Russia that should abandon the actions that it did in 2008, the attack on Georgia, in 2014 on Ukraine, now Russia occupies part of the Georgian territory, now Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It is clear that there are separatists, but everyone understands what is behind the name separatists," Duda said at a press conference following a trilateral meeting with the presidents of Lithuania and Ukraine at the state residence Synehora in Ivano-Frankivsk region on Monday.

He also said that, objectively, there is the occupation of Crimea, which violates international law, and the forceful change of the borders of Europe.

"No democratic state can accept such a state of affairs. When we ask the question of who should yield, it is clear that Russia must take a step back," Duda stressed.

He pointed out that the biggest mistake would be to accept Russian blackmail.

"We must take a strong position and not accept blackmail. The result will be the opposite. And this is how NATO must behave in order to be consistent, justified and fight back these policies. Because if we leave some space, they will occupy this space and go to the West, they cannot be stopped," Duda said.

The Polish president recalled the words of the former Polish president Lech Kaczynski, who warned that after the Russian Federation attacked Georgia, there would be attacks on Ukraine, the Baltic countries, and Poland. "I want to remind you of these words, because he turned out to be right [...] What happened from 2008 to 2014? Nothing. The world has done nothing to limit Russia's military ambitions, to stop imperial ambitions," he said.

Since 2014, NATO took decisive steps, leading to NATO now having its troops on the Eastern Flank, Duda said.

"None of us can rule out that so far we do not see Russian aggression precisely because these troops are there, because there are NATO troops on the strip of land in Europe that separates Western Europe from Ukraine," he said.

The President of Poland said that this is a major change. "This demonstrates what actions will be effective against blackmail," Duda said.

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