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Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski believes that Donald Trump’s administration should negotiate with Russia only from a position of strength.
Sikorski wrote about this in a guest essay for The New York Times.
The Polish foreign minister reminded readers of the Trump administration’s earlier hopes for a quick end to the war in Ukraine—and of how Russia only escalated its aggression, resorting to provocations against NATO member states.
“These and other incidents are yet more evidence that the Kremlin is not interested in peace, but in escalating the conflict. If this surprises you, you simply haven’t been paying attention,” he writes.
According to Sikorski, for Putin, the summit with Trump in Alaska was an attempt to buy time, while his goals—reviving the Russian Empire, dividing the West, and weakening the United States—have not changed.
“But it is possible to negotiate with Russia. Just do it in two stages: first, demonstrate strength, and only then engage in dialogue,” the essay says.
The Polish minister writes that this requires continued financial and military support for Ukraine, as well as efforts to undermine the foundations of Russia’s war economy.
“A good start would be if the self-proclaimed MAGA followers in Hungary and Slovakia listened to Trump and stopped buying Russian oil—and finally made use of the more than $200 billion in frozen Russian assets in Europe to provide financial assistance to the victims of Putin’s war,” he argues.
As a reminder, after the Putin–Trump meeting in Alaska on August 15, the American president began publicly criticizing Russia more frequently for its unwillingness to move toward a settlement of the war in Ukraine.
After meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump even said he believed in Ukraine’s ability to reclaim the territories occupied by Russia.
Recently, the U.S. president also expressed confidence that he would eventually succeed in resolving the war launched by Russia against Ukraine.
Read also: Military Aid to Ukraine Does Not Mean NATO Is at War With Russia – Alliance Legal Adviser
