Poland's foreign policy seeks Russia's strategic defeat Duda says
Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, has said that Polish foreign policy's aim is to lead to Russia's strategic defeat in its war against Ukraine as it is also a matter of Poland's security.
Taking to the Polish ambassadors attending the annual meeting organised by the Foreign Ministry on Monday, Duda said that their narrative is at one with Poland's narrative outside the country.
"Awareness of this fact is extremely important at the present time... the moment of our history, when... the fate of the Polish state, its position, security and importance is at stake in the coming decades, and perhaps centuries," he said.
In Duda's opinion, this is the time when the foreign service requires full commitment and activity as Poland's voice must be heard very clearly.
He said that the issue of Russian aggression is the number one topic for Polish foreign policy, because it is also a matter of Poland's security.
"Russia sees Poland as a country that will either subordinate to it and be dependent on it, or will be its enemy," Duda warned.
"The Russian mentality is an imperial and colonial mentality that does not recognise any arguments except the argument of force. This time must come to an end once and for all," he said, adding that the spirit of imperialism is deeply rooted in the entire Russian society.
Duda said he believes that the only way to change such mentality is to lead Russia to a clear defeat. "Russians need to feel the bitter taste of defeat so that they stop thinking about the world in this way," he argued.
According to Duda, Ukraine must win and "any rotten compromise or (Russian President Vladimir - PAP) Putin coming out of this war without loss of face will end only in freezing the conflict... and probably an outbreak of even more aggression in the near future."
Therefore, the goal of our foreign policy in this aspect is to lead to a situation in which Russia will suffer a strategic defeat, Ukraine will win, and the spectre of war will be permanently removed from our borders," he said.
Duda also said that Polish diplomacy must treat Belarus under Alexander Lukashenko regime as a state co-responsible for waging Putin's war.
"Belarus is not only a country that officially supports Russia, but also the only one that has de facto contributed to hostilities, making its territory available, in a critical phase of the war, for attacking Ukraine, directly from the north," he said.
Therefore, Duda added, Poland must strive on the international forum to "impose and increase all possible sanctions on Belarus."
"At the same time, we must not forget about the Belarusian nation, which, unlike the Russians, is not poisoned by the spirit of imperialism," he said. (PAP)
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