Putin’s narrative, claims rile up Poland

Poland summoned Russia’s ambassador following President Vladimir Putin’s comments about post-World War II borders and claims that Polish authorities were considering seizing parts of western Ukraine.

Putin riled Warsaw with remarks Friday that western territories given to Poland in the wake of Nazi Germany’s defeat in 1945 — when the country’s eastern regions were taken over by the Soviet Union — were a “gift” from communist leader Josef Stalin.

The Kremlin is trying to “falsify history and the present,” Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski told reporters after speaking with Russian envoy Sergei Andreyev on Saturday. Putin’s suggestions that Poland is interested in seizing territory are a provocation as “borders are absolutely inviolable,” he said.

Andreyev said after the meeting that he rejected “all accusations” leveled by Poland against Putin, as they have “no justification.” The developments mark a further deterioration in relations between Warsaw and Moscow, which have effectively been frozen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Jablonski said Putin’s suggestions that Poland should be thankful for Stalin’s role in moving its borders westward nearly 80 years ago amounted to “pseudo-historical arguments” and “attempts to whitewash a war criminal by another war criminal.”

Putin also warned Poland that he would treat any “aggression” toward his ally Belarus as an attack on his own country. That followed Warsaw’s recent decision to send troops to reinforce its eastern border in response to the presence of Wagner mercenary forces in its neighbor.

Poland, a NATO member, has shown no intention to take unilateral, unprovoked military action.

Wagner troops plan to train together with Belarusian troops near Brest, which is adjacent to the Polish border, the Belarusian defense ministry said Thursday.