Baltic States, Poland may become NATO's gray security zone - Polish Defense Secretary Zalewski

He expressed this opinion on the Espreso TV channel

"The Russian Federation wants to control Ukraine. It wants to control Belarus, but it also wants to bring the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, we are talking here about the Baltic States, Poland and other countries, to the situation when they are excluded from such an effective mechanism of NATO's functioning, that is, to be a kind of gray security zone. Of course, we do not agree to this, because as a democratic country, as a country with the rule of law, we want it to be applied in international relations, and we want every state to have the right to speak independently about its needs," Zalewski believes.

According to Zalewski, the consequences of a Russian attack on NATO countries would be catastrophic

"Therefore, I believe that Russia's goal is to control Ukraine. Secondly, it is a kind of Finlandization of Central and Eastern Europe, and we do not agree to this, there is no reason for this to happen. Neither Poles nor other peoples of Central and Eastern Europe want this, and no one in the West takes it seriously or considers it. NATO membership is a membership that gives security guarantees, real security guarantees. I don't believe in it, there is no way that Putin would risk a provocation against NATO countries. The consequences for Russia would be catastrophic, I'm not talking about economic consequences, but military consequences," he added.

• On December 28, the Commander-in-Chief of the Dutch Army, Martin Wijnen, who is retiring on 1 January 2024, said that the country and society should prepare for war with Russia