Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski has warned that secret U.S.–Russia talks over a possible Ukraine deal were “like Nord Stream, but times a hundred.”
Nord Stream was a Russia-Germany gas pipeline project that bypassed countries, including Poland and Ukraine, deprived them of transit fees, and gave Moscow leverage over its neighbors.
Sikorski’s comments followed a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report that revealed back-channel talks that could see Ukraine pressured into surrendering territory in exchange for vast U.S. corporate access to Russia.
According to the WSJ report, the negotiations involved U.S. Special Presidential Envoy and real-estate developer Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Vladimir Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who explored ways to revive Russia’s economy by steering lucrative contracts in rare earth minerals and energy toward U.S. firms.
Sikorski told Polish news channel TVN24 on Saturday that Poland would neither participate in nor endorse any arrangement that trades Ukrainian territory for corporate gain.
He added that it remains uncertain whether Washington will pursue a rapid agreement at Kyiv’s expense, but noted, “something is afoot, because there are serious people involved there.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also criticised the proposals, telling the WSJ: “We know this isn’t about peace. This is about business.”
Sikorski said that the plan may not reflect the official stance of the U.S. administration and that “not everyone would be content with it,” but he warned the moment is dangerous for Europe. “We now have such a disturbing confluence of events,” he said.