Poland’s Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko also said that the war in Ukraine must be won by “the free and democratic world,” Polish state news agency PAP reported.
They made the comments at the European Economic Congress in the southern Polish city of Katowice on Monday.
The two former heads of state took part in a panel discussion entitled Ukraine During and After the War.
‘Poland helped save many Ukrainian lives’
Poroshenko, who was Ukraine’s president from 2014 to 2019, thanked Polish people for helping his country from the outset of the war.
He said that “Poland has helped save many Ukrainian lives,” as well as “providing military assistance,” without which it would have been “unspeakably more difficult” for Ukraine to fight the full-scale Russian invasion.
Both Kwaśniewski and Poroshenko stressed that "only membership of NATO will give Ukraine honest security guarantees,” the PAP news agency reported.
Poroshenko stated that “the free, democratic world and the free Europe must win,” and called for a faster supply of ammunition, armoured combat vehicles and weapons to his country, warning that otherwise “it will be difficult for Ukraine to win.”
‘Ukraine’s counteroffensive must succeed’
Meanwhile, Kwaśniewski, who was Poland’s president from 1995 to 2005, expressed his admiration and respect “for Ukrainian heroism” and for the fact that, despite the war, “the Ukrainian state continues to exist and function,” as evidenced by visits to Kyiv by numerous world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, the Polish state news agency reported.
Kwaśniewski said that “it is extremely important for Ukraine’s upcoming counteroffensive to succeed, to make an impact.”
He added that a successful counteroffensive would not only “boost the morale of the Ukrainians,” but also “send a message to the world that the collective effort makes sense and should be continued.”
Prospects for peace talks
Kwaśniewski also said that a peaceful settlement for the Ukraine war would become a realistic prospect "if there was a change of personnel at the Kremlin,” but added that “there are no signs of it so far.”
He added that peace talks may also be brought about if either side suffered "a shortage of resources: military equipment in the case of Russia and human resources in the case of Ukraine."
According to Kwaśniewski, the third key factor is the upcoming presidential campaign in the United States, with Biden likely to face pressure “to produce some kind of success or plan” to the electorate, which might mean “somewhat forced negotiations” between Russia and Ukraine.
PAP/Zbigniew Meissner
‘Ukraine must play essential role in any peace plan’
Kwaśniewski said that “Ukraine must be supported” because the war in Ukraine “is a war between the democratic world and the authoritarian world,” with Ukraine fighting “not only for our democratic values, but also instead of us.”
The former Polish president warned against any “peace formulas imposed from above,” and stressed that “Ukraine must play an essential role in any plan for negotiations and for potential peace--it must be Ukraine’s will.”
Meanwhile, Poroshenko told the audience in Katowice: “The war will end when Ukraine joins NATO, which will represent a guarantee of long-term security.”
He also urged for “de-Putinisation” not only of Russia, but also “the entire continent,” the PAP news agency reported.
Tuesday is day 426 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, bankier.pl
