During a press conference on Monday Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated that they believe Germany is an obstacle in the way of imposing harsh sanctions on Russia, and they’ve assisted Russia in becoming stronger for decades.
The statements come in the wake of Kiev’s claims that Russia committed a massacre against civilian populations in Bucha, a city in northwest Kiev. Morawiecki labelled Russian actions in Ukraine as “pure evil” and believes that the only course of action for the EU would be to impose the toughest possible sanctions on Russia.
Morawiecki asked French President Emmanuel Macron “How many times have you negotiated with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin?”
He also said, “you do not negotiate with criminals, you fight them,” and that the EU must ramp up anti-Russian sanctions to “break Putin’s war machine.
Then he criticised Germany for its history of trading with Russia, which in response Berlin has pledged to reduce its dependence on Russian commonalities moving forward. However, Berlin did acknowledge that it would take years to reduce its dependency and it would be detrimental to its economy.
Former chancellor Angela Merkel assisted Russia economically by purchasing raw materials for Germany from Russia, which in turn helped Russia build up its army.
Morawiecki added that current German leaders should listen to the voices of “innocent women and children, the voice of the murdered people,” rather than German businessmen referring to the conflict in Ukraine.
When queried about Hungary’s refusal to sanction Russian energy he said that “anyone who reads the transcripts [of EU meetings] will know that Germany is the main stumbling block on the way towards very strong sanctions,”
“[Hungarian] Prime Minister Viktor Orban did not stop the sanctions. In fact, the main obstacles are the big countries, those who are afraid for their business.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has blamed former leaders of Germany and France, claiming that their support for Russia enabled them to commit war crimes in Bucha.
Moscow denies Kiev’s accusations regarding the war crimes in Bucha, claiming that the Ukrainian government committed them in an attempt to ruin Russia’s credibility in the conflict. Russian forces left the town on April 30th, and footage of murdered civilians began to appear online from April 2nd.
Of the EU states Poland has been among the most vocal critics of Russia, with top Polish officials calling for a massive increase in US troops in Europe and stating that they’re ready to house nuclear weapons in their country to deter Russia. Warsaw has also mapped out policies of “de-Russifying” its economy and also is looking at suppressing Russian culture within Poland.
Spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov remarked the Poland’s rhetoric was “extremely belligerent” and “anti-Russian,” causing “deep concern.”
