Radosław Sikorski on Poland's relations with the US, Ukraine and the Duda-Trump meeting that will not take place

Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski is on a visit to the United States. On Friday, he met with the national security adviser at the White House USA Jake Sullivan.

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke about the subject of the meeting with Marcin Wrona, the correspondent of “Fakty” TVN in Washington. – We talked about the security situation, mainly in Europe, but for obvious reasons I cannot provide details – he said.

At the same time, Sikorski emphasized that “we are in a close alliance”. – About 10,000 American soldiers in Poland, which is what successive Polish governments have always strived for. We are a key logistics hub. We strive for Poland to also be a political hub. This means, and this meeting proved it, that we have strategic talks with our closest allies on how to oust Russia With Ukraine – he added.

Sikorski also referred to the recent tensions between Poland and Ukraine in the interview. – The Ukrainian leaders are under stress because they are waging a defensive war, which is why we of course forgive them a lot and help them, but I hope they will understand that we also have our demands. However, building some theories based on manipulated leaks from hypothetical academic discussions by the Ukrainian media is not very professional – he emphasized. – Let's remember that the demilitarization of Crimea would mean the withdrawal of Russian troops from Crimea, which are occupying Crimea – he added.

He thus responded to reports in the Ukrainian media from recent days suggesting that Sikorski had proposed, during one of the meetings on the sidelines of the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kiev, to place Crimea under the Ukrainian mandate. UN with the prospect of organizing a referendum on the status of the territory in the distant future.

– At the conference, there was a hypothetical discussion among experts in off-the-record mode (confidential, without citation – ed.), where we wondered how to implement the suggestions of President Zelensky himself, on how to regain Crimea. He spoke about diplomatic actions – Sikorski described this situation on Friday.

Spokesman Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Paweł Wroński described the entire situation and the way the media described it as a “total misunderstanding”.

Ukrainian media also wrote that there had been a dispute between him and Volodymyr Zelensky regarding the Volhynia massacre and the exhumation of the victims.

Sikorski was also asked about the announcement of a meeting between Andrzej Duda and Donald Trumpwhich will ultimately not happen.

– The president did not coordinate this proposal with the government in any way, so these attempts were at his own risk and responsibility, for better or for worse. The fact that two sides of a political dispute in Poland are talking to two sides of a political dispute in the United States is not a bad thing. What is controversial here is that it was to take place at a time when Americans were already voting – the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out.

– There is a precedent, of course, because it seems that President Duda was here in the White House very shortly before his elections in Poland, but in the United States it arouses controversy. There is no such custom – he added.

Asked how he assessed the fact that the acting head of state heard that the presidential candidate was canceling the meeting, Sikorski replied that “it was some kind of a miss”. – But I understand that the president calculated that if he took this risk and Donald Trump won, he would have a positive plus – he added.

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also referred to the upcoming presidential elections in the USA in the context of the “Polish bloc in the United States”.

– Poles have traditionally been so-called Reagan Democrats. That is, they tended to vote for Democrats in the Congressional elections and Republicans for president. Although in the more distant past it was different, because President Roosevelt used the leader of the Polish American Congress, Karol Rozmarek, creating the impression that he would fight for Poland's eastern border when he had long since given it to Stalin – said Sikorski.

As he added, “so first of all, you have to be careful who you trust.” – Polish affairs influenced the choice between Presidents Carter and Ford, so the candidates have to be careful not to make a gaffe at our expense. Very good – he assessed.

– The fact that they are bidding on how many Poles there are in Pennsylvania, in Kamala Harris' statement 800 thousand, and in Michigan 850 thousand, is heard by the entire American political establishment and it increases the importance of the Polish electorate and Polish issues. It makes my diplomacy easier – added the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The minister was also asked when Bogdan Klich, whose candidacy for ambassador to the US was positively assessed by the Sejm Foreign Affairs Committee on September 11, would appear in Washington.

– I would prefer to discuss personnel matters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the ministry, he said.

At the same time, he answered affirmatively to the question whether it is “a very short matter”. – As for the details, the ministry will not necessarily act with the knowledge of all media – he replied.

At the end of the conversation, Sikorski was asked if he planned to run in next year's presidential elections. “My decision is that any such statements by my party leaders will be made in the country, not abroad,” he said.