Ukraine Sought to Draw Poland Into Hostilities with Russia — Opposition Leader

According to Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the Ukrainians hoped to draw Poland into the conflict "by creating a single state"

Jaroslaw Kaczynski

© AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski

MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/. Ukraine sought to draw Poland into hostilities with Russia at the beginning of the special military operation, even by creating something resembling a "single state," Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of Poland’s largest opposition party, Law and Justice, said.

"Ukrainians often expected us to do things we could not do. <...> It seems to me that initially the Ukrainians had a somewhat strange concept - to draw us into this war, even by creating a single state," the opposition leader said at a youth forum in Augustow, northeastern Poland, with the event broadcast on the party’s social media.

Kaczynski suggested that the Ukrainians may have overestimated the Polish army’s combat capabilities at the time. According to the politician, Kiev also hoped to join NATO. "They probably thought such goals could be achieved, but I am not sure about that - historians will establish what actually happened," the opposition leader added.

The Law and Justice leader also said that Warsaw took part in negotiations between Kiev and Moscow in spring 2022. "We took part in mediation efforts at the time, with Poland playing a greater role and not merely serving as a point through which people were transported," he said.