Sikorski about interview saying Putin offered Poland to divide Ukraine: My words were overinterpreted


Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to then Polish PM Donald Tusk in 2008 that they divide Ukraine between themselves, U.S Politico magazine said referring to ex-Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski’s statements.

“He wanted us to become participants in this partition of Ukraine … This was one of the first things that Putin said to my prime minister, Donald Tusk, when he visited Moscow,” Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s incumbent parliamentary speaker, was quoted as saying in the interview dated Oct. 19. “He (Putin) went on to say Ukraine is an artificial country and that Lwow is a Polish city and why don’t we just sort it out together.”

“The talk with Politico was not authorized. Some of the words have been overinterpreted. I confirm that Poland doesn’t take part in annexations,” Sikorski said on Twitter account late on Monday.

“Recall that Putin publicly called Ukraine ‘an artificial state’ at 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest,” Mr Sikorski reminded.

“If such a proposal was made by Putin then that’s scandalous,” Reuters quoted Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz. “No Polish prime minister will participate in such a disgraceful activity like partitioning another country”, she said, adding she had not heard about such a proposal before.

Before World War Two, Poland’s territory included parts of today’s western Ukraine, including some major cities such as Lwow, known as Lviv in Ukraine.

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