Polish troops in Ukraine could fuel Russian propaganda, says Sikorski

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski explained that sending Polish troops to Ukraine would give Russian propaganda a reason to claim that Warsaw intends to seize Ukrainian territories.

Sikorski shared this view during an interview on RMF24 radio.

He pointed out that Russian propaganda has already accused Poland of being ready to send troops into Ukraine in order to divide Ukrainian territories with Russia.

According to the Polish Foreign Minister, Poland should not give Russia any additional grounds for such accusations. Furthermore, Sikorski believes that the presence of Polish troops on Ukrainian territory would mobilize Russian society for war.

At the same time, the Polish Foreign Minister assured that Polish businesses will be "the biggest beneficiaries" of the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine due to the countries' proximity and similar languages.

It is worth noting that earlier, Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz excluded the possibility of sending Polish peacekeepers to Ukraine after the war. In his view, this task should be carried out by countries that do not border Ukraine.

A survey showed that 86.5% of Poles oppose sending Polish troops to Ukraine, with 58.5% strongly disagreeing with such a proposal.

European troops in Ukraine

In early March, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the creation of a Coalition of the Willing to protect Ukraine and ensure peace.

The Coalition of the Willing is expected to send a peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine. According to Starmer, the final number of Western troops will be "over 10,000 servicemen." The majority of these forces will likely come from the UK and France.

French President Emmanuel Macron explained that European soldiers within the potential peacekeeping mission in Ukraine will not be on the front line and will not fight Russia.