2022-03-31 18:21 update: 2022-04-02, 11:25
Jakub Kumoch Photo PAP/Leszek Szymański
Poland will defend Ukraine against it being forced to conclude agreements contrary to its interests, the chief foreign policy advisor to President Andrzej Duda has said.
Jakub Kumoch also said any ceasefire agreement must include the withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied areas.
"We will oppose negotiations that lead to freezing the conflict at the point where it is now, and thus leading to de facto division of Ukraine and, at the same time, giving the Russians a chance to attack again," he said.
"Poland will accept the solutions that Ukraine agrees to, but it will not agree to and will defend Ukraine against being forced to conclude agreements contrary to its interests, here Poland will clearly be the voice of Ukraine," Kumoch continued.
He said that Russian proposals to stop the fighting included the cessation of Ukrainian territory to Russia.
A ceasefire, said Kumoch, was necessary but he added that "it must include the withdrawal of Russian troops from the areas occupied after the invasion, otherwise it will be just a fictitious ceasefire that will give Russia an opportunity to regroup."
He added that those who strive for such a fictitious ceasefire do not act in the interests of Ukraine.
Poland is also in favour of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Kumoch said.
"A peace solution based on a territorial cession or recognition of illegal activities is obviously contrary to both Polish and European interests because it leads to the creation of numerous danger zones in Europe and to the reconstruction of old conflicts from the south of Europe to the very north, and countries that are very far from Ukraine may be a victim of this," Kumoch said. (PAP)
