‘No Panic’: Russia Lacks Capacity to Attack Poland, Says Foreign Minister Sikorski

Russia does not have the military resources available to attack Poland, though Warsaw takes threats from Moscow seriously, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has said.

Despite its belligerent rhetoric, Moscow is not a source of “panic” for Warsaw, Sikorski told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero in an interview published Sunday, adding that at most Vladimir Putin may stage some form of “provocation” to test NATO’s resolve. 

Reports emerged in early July that US intelligence had warned Warsaw of possible Russian actions against Poland.  

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later brushed off the reports as “scare stories” adding that Warsaw should “in any case give it some thought” and “reflect on its own security.” 

In response, Sikorski told Il Messaggero the threat from Russia is nothing new. 

“For about 500 years, we have been thinking about our security in relation to Russia, and we are not going to stop,” he said. “But Putin does not have the means to attack us today. At most, he could attempt some kind of provocation.” 

Putin ‘overly optimistic’ 

Sikorski said that by publicly exposing Russia’s plans he hopes to dissuade the Kremlin from carrying them out. 

“That is why we are sending the Russians a signal,” he said. “We know they are preparing something, just as was the case before the invasion of Ukraine. And by exposing their intentions in advance, I hope we can persuade them to abandon their aggressive stance.” 

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The foreign minister told the Italian publication that the Polish government is not overly concerned by Kremlin statements given that Moscow’s forces have failed to take Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region after 13 years of conflict. Prior to the 2022 invasion, Russia had backed proxy separatists in the region since 2014. 

He went on to assert that although Russia cannot win its war in Ukraine, further aggression cannot be ruled out as Vladimir Putin has in the past made decisions on the basis of “overly optimistic and completely mistaken assessments.” 

‘Second strongest army in Ukraine’ 

In this context, Poland’s chief diplomat lavished praise on Ukraine’s resilience and perseverance over the course of a war now in its fifth year.  

“If, five years ago, someone had told us that Ukraine would avoid occupation, continue exporting grain through the Black Sea, and maintain a stable front line, no one would have believed it,” he said. “Kyiv has achieved far more than anyone could have predicted.” 

“We used to think Putin had the second strongest army in the world,” Sikorski quipped. “Today, it can be said that he has the second strongest army in Ukraine.”