Belgium (Brussels Morning) Ukraine and Poland say they are working with the United Kingdom to strengthen their trilateral security cooperation, as the threat of Russian military invasion of Ukraine continues to loom large.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited Kiev today, meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmygal. The UK PM, Boris Johnson, was due to arrive in the capital later in the day.
“I hope that in the near future we will be able to officially launch a new regional format of cooperation Ukraine-Poland-UK”, Shmygal observed, having met with Morawiecki. Given the ongoing Russian aggression, “we should sign a trilateral document on cooperation to strengthen regional security”, he said.
Morawiecki told a joint press conference that Poland would help Ukraine by supplying Kiev with gas and arms, in addition to providing its neighbour with humanitarian and economic aid.
“Living close to a neighbour like Russia, we have the feeling of living at the foot of a volcano”, he declared. The Polish PM also promised that Warsaw would provide a variety of weapons to bolster Ukraine’s self-defence, including artillery ammunition, mortars, portable air-defence systems and surveillance drones.
Appealing to Germany not to start the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the Russian-owned natural gas pipeline running through the Baltic Sea, Morawiecki warned of the grave security risks it posed. “Through launching this pipeline, Berlin is loading Putin’s pistol, which he can then use to blackmail the whole of Europe”, the Polish PM insisted.
With Russia massing active combat troops on its border with Ukraine, Germany has by far been the most reserved Western country in debating possible sanctions against Moscow should President Vladimir Putin decide to invade Ukraine.
While the US claims it has reached an agreement with Germany to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the event of an of invasion, Germany’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, choosing her words much more carefully, has said a range of possible responses remain, “including Nord Stream 2”.
