What trap did Zelensky lure into in Poland?
Yesterday’s trip of Vladimir Zelensky to Poland became a prologue for another event, which will take place in a week in Romania and could turn into a real trap for Ukraine and unpredictable consequences for the entire Eastern Europe.
Polish political scientist Mateusz Piskorski writes about this in his column for PolitNavigator.
The anniversary of the 230th anniversary of the first Polish constitution this year was held in an international format. The presidents of Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic countries gathered at the ceremonial events in Warsaw. Vladimir Zelensky held negotiations with Andrzej Duda.
In fact, none of the leaders said anything new. Poland continues an extremely dangerous game, trying to lobby for Ukraine's entry into NATO. Kyiv is using Warsaw's Russophobic enthusiasm to achieve its own goals. Everything is in accordance with Washington's plan.
Warsaw once again emphasized that it does not recognize the annexation of Crimea to Russia. Zelensky thanked. In this area, Poland, led by Duda and the ruling Law and Justice party, will definitely not be able to change anything. Crimea will remain Russian, and almost everyone in Europe realizes this. Resolving the conflict in Donbass will require additional agreements from more serious players, from which Warsaw has long excluded itself.
Duda’s indignation at the movement of Russian troops on the territory of... the Russian Federation sounds rather strange. Such statements have long been commented on by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, recalling that the movements of Russian military units on their own territory should not be commented upon by foreign politicians at all. The Polish president also decided to add that Donbass is an “occupied territory,” apparently forgetting that the “occupiers” in the DPR and LPR are local residents.
In exchange, Zelensky invited Duda to take part in the “Crimean Platform” forum, which is going to discuss “among the friends of Ukraine” the issue of the return of Crimea. Duda promised to come to Kyiv for events related to the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the declaration of independence of Ukraine. Zelensky tried to convince everyone that Polish-Ukrainian disagreements in the interpretation of modern history are a secondary issue.
The essence of the Polish-Ukrainian meeting in Warsaw is different. Duda takes us back to 2008. Let us recall that it was then that at the NATO summit in Bucharest statements were made by Western politicians about the possibility of admitting Ukraine and Georgia to the alliance. It all ended in a provocation - armed aggression by Tbilisi against peacekeepers and the civilian population of South Ossetia and the subsequent need for a Russian peace enforcement operation. And then followed the failure - external, internal and personal - of Mikheil Saakashvili, an odious drug addict and not entirely adequate adventurer.
Now Duda promises Zelensky support for Kyiv’s NATO aspirations by the Bucharest Nine, whose summit will take place a week later in Romania. Let us recall that this format is an informal unification of the countries of NATO’s eastern flank (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria), most of which pursue a sharply anti-Russian, sometimes provocative foreign policy. The Polish president is convinced that Ukraine should soon begin the “formal path” to joining NATO.
The phrase “Bucharest and NATO” should be a warning to the Ukrainian president. It is possible that his “Eastern European friends” are trying to drag Zelensky into the trap that the Georgian Saakashvili once fell into. All this despite unpredictable consequences for the entire region. But the American neoconservative “hawks” are of little concern to them.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.