Polish Leader Says Russia Can’t Be Allowed to Win in Ukraine

Piotr Skolimowski and Natalia Ojewska
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Polish President Andrzej Duda said Russia would invade other countries if its forces are victorious in its war on Ukraine, as he predicted a fresh military push by the Kremlin in the coming weeks.

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Though he said an assault on other neighbors isn’t imminent, the Polish leader warned at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday that NATO allies are vulnerable. He spoke as Ukrainian forces struggle to hold back a fresh Kremlin offensive.

“If they manage to win in Ukraine, if they manage to accomplish their goals, they will attack other countries,” Duda, 51, told Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait in Doha. “This could be the Baltic states, perhaps this could be Finland, perhaps Poland.”

Ukraine’s military has suffered from a dwindling supply of artillery and manpower this year as momentum on the battlefield has shifted to Moscow. Opening a new front north of Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, Russian forces crossed the border in the area last week after having been pushed back in 2022, forcing Kyiv to dispatch reinforcements from its strained front line.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv earlier in the day to reinforce US support after delays in billions of dollars of military aid prompted fears the US would abandon its partner in the face of Russia’s invasion. Duda said he hoped the aid would arrive to the front line before the next Russia push begins in the spring months as the wet season in Ukraine ends.

Asked about the prospect that former President Donald Trump is re-elected, Duda — an ally who met with presumptive Republican candidate in New York last month — said he views the US presidential election “calmly,” and that the winner will inevitably be a “strategic friend of Poland.”

“I am absolutely convinced that historical processes and the core of US interests is understood by Trump,” Duda said of his two-and-a-half-hour meeting with the former president at Trump Tower on April 17.

No Patriots

Duda said his government, which is in the early stages of assembling its own air-defense system, will be unable to deliver a Patriot anti-missile battery to Kyiv. Poland is “in a potential danger zone” and needs to replenish its resources, he said, making reference to tanks, Soviet-era jets and military aid worth $4 billion to Ukraine.

“Now we need to take care of ourselves,” Duda said.

The Polish leader, who was one of the first to announce his attendance at a meeting in Switzerland next month to discuss President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s peace blueprint, said it’s necessary that Ukraine regain control of all occupied territory.

Heads of state and government from more than 160 countries including the Group of Seven, Group of 20, the European Union and the so-called BRICS bloc were invited to the June 15-16 gathering near Lucerne. Russia isn’t included on the guest list.

The government of the State of Qatar is the underwriter of the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg.

--With assistance from Agnieszka Barteczko, Wojciech Moskwa, Piotr Bujnicki and Konrad Krasuski.

(Updates with Duda quotes, comments on Trump, Patriots from second paragraph.)

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