The leader of Poland’s Law and Justice party (PiS), Jarosław Kaczyński, said that at the beginning of the full-scale war Ukraine allegedly intended to draw Poland into the war with Russia and may have considered creating “one state”. Kyiv repeatedly appealed to partners for military and political support after Russia launched its invasion.
This was reported by Rzeczpospolita.
During his speech at the Youth Congress in the Polish city of Augustów, Kaczyński spoke about what he described as a change in Ukraine’s approach toward relations with Poland.
According to him, at the beginning of the war Ukrainian authorities allegedly expected Warsaw to take actions that Poland could not agree to.
“There were often various issues related to whether to do something or not to do something. Ukrainians sometimes expected things from us that, for various reasons that I cannot discuss, we could not agree to,” Kaczyński said.
He claimed that later the situation in relations between the two countries changed.
“Later, it began to develop completely differently, but it must be clearly stated that Ukrainians changed their concept. It seems to me that initially they had a somewhat strange concept — that they would draw us into this war, even through the creation of one state. Zelenskyy’s speech in the Sejm was moving in exactly this direction,” the PiS leader said.
Kaczyński claimed Poland had limited military capabilities at the start of the invasion
According to Kaczyński, Ukraine may have incorrectly assessed Poland’s military capabilities in the first months after the beginning of the full-scale war.
“Poland, even if it had been a very warlike country, practically had no real armed forces. It could not enter the war,” he said.
Kaczyński also suggested that Ukraine’s calculations may have taken into account Poland’s NATO membership.
“In addition, it was also about NATO membership. They probably thought that such goals could be achieved, but I am not sure about that — historians will determine it,” he said.
Kaczyński spoke about hybrid warfare and the PiS government’s actions
The PiS leader also referred to the situation in Poland before Russia’s full-scale invasion.
According to him, a hybrid war had already begun before the outbreak of the full-scale conflict, and the Polish government had been preparing for possible developments.
“Remember that before all this started, hybrid warfare began. When this happened, we had already made all decisions except one — the decision to introduce a state of emergency in Poland’s border areas,” Kaczyński said.
Kaczyński visited Kyiv in the first weeks of the war
Jarosław Kaczyński was one of the first foreign politicians to visit Kyiv after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
On March 15, 2022, he traveled to the Ukrainian capital together with then-Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša.
The delegation met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. The visit took place amid ongoing fighting and Russian attacks in the Kyiv region.
After the meeting, Kaczyński said Ukraine needed not only solidarity but also concrete actions from the international community. He also supported the possibility of a NATO peacekeeping mission or another international format in Ukraine.
