Deputy Foreign Minister Piotr Wawrzyk voiced his criticism in parliament, where he was responding to questions about an incident in which the Russian envoy, Sergiy Andreev, was doused in red paint by anti-war protesters in Warsaw earlier this week.
Russia's Andreev has previously been criticised for blaming Poland for the outbreak of World War II and for denying Russian war crimes in Ukraine, among other controversial statements, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
An MP on Thursday asked Wawrzyk if "the time has come to tell the ambassador that his place is in Moscow."
'Russian propaganda, disinformation and provocations'
Wawrzyk replied that by coming to the support of war-torn Ukraine, "Poland has become a target for Russian propaganda, disinformation and provocations."
He said: “The policy of the Russian Federation determines the behaviour of its ambassador to Poland.”
“He is following orders from Moscow, implementing Russian foreign policy,” Wawrzyk added.
“As a result, most of his actions should be seen as a provocation,” Warzyk told MPs, adding that Andreev’s actions reflected the policies of "the country he represents.”
Wawrzyk noted that the Russian ambassador had been summoned to the Polish foreign ministry "on numerous occasions to explain his words and actions," public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
He told MPs that "any farther-reaching steps must be made in coordination with our allies."
The Warsaw incident
Andreev was in the news after Ukraine supporters splashed him with red paint as he visited Warsaw’s Soviet Military Cemetery on Monday.
He was there to mark the anniversary of the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, the PAP news agency reported.
Wawrzyk reiterated the Polish foreign ministry’s position that the incident was “regrettable.”
On Wednesday, Poland’s embassy in Moscow was splattered with red paint in an apparent act of retaliation, news outlets reported.
Thursday was day 78 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, rmf24.pl