The President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, said on Friday that he did not believe Russia would decide to attack any NATO country. In an interview with the British BBC News channel, he also expressed the view that there would be no war in Ukraine if the country had been admitted to the Alliance in advance.
Referring to the latest news from Ukraine – the capture of Avdiivka by Russia, the problems of Ukrainian troops with ammunition and the lack of new recruits – Andrzej Duda recalled that when Ukraine was invaded two years ago, it was believed that the country would fall. , if not within a few hours, then within a few days.
Two years have passed. Ukraine continues to defend itself, Ukraine persevered and stopped Russian aggression. There are very difficult moments on the front line. There are better moments, but there are also harder ones. For me, one thing is most important: we still have an independent, sovereign Ukraine
– noted the Polish President.
When asked – referring to President Lech Kaczyński’s warning in 2008 that after Georgia would come Ukraine, and then perhaps the Baltic countries and Poland – whether and when a Russian attack could take place, President Andrzej Duda expressed his belief that Russia would not would decide to attack any NATO country.
I do not believe that Russia will attack NATO countries, any NATO countries, that it will dare to open a war with NATO, with the North Atlantic Alliance – if we look at Article Five on collective defense and if we consider how much Russia tried to conquer Ukraine in the last two years and was unable to deal with the Ukrainian nation and its heroism
– he said.
But recalling that the issue of Ukraine’s membership was discussed at the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008, he expressed his belief that if France and Germany had not blocked membership and Ukraine had been admitted to the Alliance, the current war would not have taken place because Russia would not have dared to attack the country that is a NATO member state.
When asked about the words of Donald Trump, a likely candidate in the US presidential election, who de facto undermined Article 5 by saying that as president he would not defend countries that do not allocate 2%. GDP for Defense, Andrzej Duda pointed out that the US election campaign is ongoing, and during the campaign politicians often use harsher language than normal people. He also recalled that all Member States had committed to reaching this 2% threshold.
He also expressed hope that, despite the current political disputes, the US Congress would decide to provide further assistance to Ukraine.
We should not forget that no one has so far provided more assistance to Ukraine than the United States. Without this help from the United States, I am not sure Ukraine would be able to defend itself today
-President Duda noted.
Sanctions against Russia
The Polish president emphasized that sanctions against Russia are showing results and must be continued and expanded.
They are painful for the Russians. They cause huge losses to the Russian economy and relatively lower living standards. They are painful for the Russian oligarchs. They severely limit the development opportunities of the Russian defense industry. Of course they are celebrated. That’s how it always is. Russia is trying to circumvent sanctions in many different ways. But sanctions are imposed. And they must continue. The Russian financial market must be attacked. We must attack the Russian banking sector. That is why I believe that Europe should move in this direction. It should implement more sanctions packages against Russia
– Andrzej Duda argued.
He also believed that frozen Russian assets should be used to rebuild Ukraine.
President Duda also drew attention to the need to rebuild the European defense industry within the European Union.
That is why we need joint production of ammunition within the European Union. Ammunition, which we have a serious shortage of. We need big discussions, serious discussions about the common reconstruction of the European defense industry
– he said.
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mly/PAP
Source: wPolityce