Russia will not stop at Ukraine, Morawiecki says in Washington. "There is a risk of a scale difficult to imagine"

Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, has argued during the first day of his trip to the US that Russia will not stop at Ukraine so all free nations must jointly prevent the escalation into a global conflict.

During his Tuesday meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington Morawiecki said that Poland and the United States „today stand together in defence of the freedom of the Ukrainian people.”

„Warsaw and Washington are two poles of the western civilisation and the current situation in Ukraine - and not only this, we had a brief chat about Africa just before this meeting and it is so visible to me, so clear that we have to work hand in glove in many different regions of the world”

— he said.

Morawiecki warned that if Ukraine is not defended there is a risk of a conflict and global crisis of a scale difficult to imagine.

According him, after the fall of communism, Russia waited for almost three decades, but the return of Russian imperialism heralds a new Cold War.

„Russia’s attack on Ukraine is only the beginning. The consequences of this war have already reached the USA. I know that as in Poland many American families suffer inflation, post-pandemic, post-energy crisis and as we call it ‘Putinflation’, inflation triggered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine”

— he added.

During joint statements for the media, Harris said that the meeting with Morawiecki was a continuation of talks between the two countries which started over a year ago, after Russian aggression against Ukraine.

She said that during her visit to Poland in March 2022, she met with President Andrzej Duda as well as with Polish and American soldiers stationed in Poland, who work together to defend Nato’s eastern flank.

According to Harris, her visit showed to the world the strength of Polish-US alliance against Russia’s attack.

She described Poland as „a valued ally, a partner and a friend”, adding that the two nations have „an enduring relationship based on shared priorities and democratic values.”

Speaking to reporters upon departure for the US on Tuesday, Morawiecki said that the aim of his visit would be to strengthen the concept of a strategic partnership which had been worked out during US President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Poland.

„We will make the trans-Atlantic partnership and the alliance of the European Union with the US a top priority of Poland’s EU presidency, which our country will take over in less than two years,” Morawiecki said.

Having stated that Poland’s security had been based on two pillars, namely, economic and defence cooperation, Morawiecki said that he was going to the US „to strengthen these two pillars, to strengthen their foundation and build them in cooperation with our allies.”

Morawiecki also said that, while in the US, he wanted to approve and develop arms contracts „which are the foundation of Poland’s security in the future.”

The Polish government spokesman, Piotr Mueller, said that bilateral economic cooperation and Poland’s security would be in the focus of the visit, which would end on Thursday.

(PAP)

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