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Poland fears Russia will test Nato’s resolve by “accidentally” firing a missile into its territory, a senior foreign affairs official has said.
Lukasz Jasina, chief adviser to Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, said there were concerns that Moscow would attempt to escalate the war into Nato territory after its operation in Ukraine stalled.
He said Poland had been surprised by the Russian army's setbacks but it had been a "positive shock". He said the war ended “30 years of stability” for Poland post-Cold War, which was “the longest stable period in Polish history since the 17th century”.
“We are afraid that Vladimir Putin will try to test Nato,” Mr Jasina said in an interview with The National in Warsaw, in which he also questioned Germany's commitment to helping Poland and called for the US to be more proactive in sending military aid.
“There's always the potential of a Russian ‘mistake’, that they will explode one of their missiles in Chelm or Zamosc, cities very close to the Ukrainian border. This [Russian] empire is killing people so of course Polish people are right to fear this.”
US President Joe Biden and other leaders have vowed that if Russia steps “one inch” on to Nato territory there will be retaliation under the Article Five agreement of collective defence among the 30-member alliance.
But Poland is apprehensive about the likelihood of Nato coming to its defence, with memories still lingering of the country’s betrayal by western powers shortly after the Second World War when it was surrendered to Stalin's Soviet Union.
“If there was a missile attack on Poland that's of course a red line and we will use Article Five of the Washington Treaty,” said Mr Jasina, who is also a historian.
However, he did not feel the West “will be very helpful” because Eastern Europe had been “betrayed so many times”.
Mr Jasina criticised Germany for failing to take a tougher stance against President Vladimir Putin’s regime and its continued reliance on Russian oil and gas supplies, as it had not diversified its energy requirements.
“This behaviour of our western neighbours, especially Germany, is so fearful, they always say to make some compromise with Russia,” said Mr Jasina, the ministry’s chief spokesman. “Even now, Chancellor [Olaf} Scholtz I would say is not the most vocal critic of Putin."
“We want to eliminate Russian oil,” he said. “But we need good sources and the Middle East would be a very good place for such payments.”
With Poland on the front line against Russian aggression and much of the population fearful that they will be targeted after Ukraine, Warsaw wants Nato to provide more security.
Mr Jasina, 42, candidly put across the requirement. “More equipment, more soldiers, permanent bases, especially with our American friends and more troops. Good missile systems and good rocket missile defence. More tanks, more planes.”
He called for the US to be decisive in providing more advanced weaponry to Kyiv, hinting that Washington could resurrect the deal that would lead to Poland supplying Ukraine with desperately needed aircraft.
Last month, a deal to send about 30 of its MiG-29 multirole combat aircraft to replace 10 fighter jets thought to have been lost by Ukraine fell through due to Washington’s reluctance to escalate the conflict by providing offensive weaponry. But with growing evidence of Russian atrocities and countries such as Czech Republic providing T-72 tanks, that attitude might change.
Poland would possibly supply the warplanes if the US agrees to backfill its air force with fighters such as F16s.
“Poland cannot be defenceless” but “maybe there will be another different decision from Nato” on the MiGs, Mr Jasina said, with Warsaw in regular contact with Washington.
“The war has already escalated. And Mr Putin will escalate the war no matter what we did,” he said.
The war in Ukraine - in pictures
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A boy rides a bicycle past a house that was damaged by shelling in Andriivka village, not far from Kyiv. EPA -
A destroyed residential building in Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
Firefighters at work on the outskirts of Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine. EPA -
A torn Ukrainian flag in front of a ruined Mariupol apartment building. Reuters -
Residents who cleared debris after Russian shelling eat lunch outside a damaged building in Makariv, near Kyiv. EPA -
Children play with a therapeutic dog at a shelter organised by volunteers in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine. Reuters -
A girl stands by the door of a bunker in Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, as Russian troops intensify a campaign to take the strategic port city of Mariupol. AFP -
A firefighter at work following a missile attack near Kharkiv International Airport. Reuters -
A Ukrainian fighter walks in front of a destroyed house in Bohdanivka village, north-east of Kyiv. AFP -
Two women hug outside a heavily damaged apartment block following an artillery attack in Kharkiv. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers guard the village of Barvinkove, as Russia's invasion on Ukraine continues. Reuters -
Leonid Serdiuchenko, a Ukrainian commander, stands next to destroyed vehicles outside Barvinkove. Reuters -
A woman carries the portrait of Dmytro Stefienko, 32, a civilian killed during the war, during his funeral in Bucha, Ukraine. AP -
A Russian soldier collects weapons from inside the Mariupol drama theatre in Ukraine. AFP -
Relatives and friends attend the funeral of Andriy Matviychuk, 37, who served as a territorial defence soldier, who was captured and killed by the Russian army in Bucha, Ukraine. AP -
Anatoliy Morykin, 45, left, mourns the death of his mother, Valentyna Morykina, 82, who died in a retirement home in Bucha during the Russian invasion. AP -
Nadiya, 65, shows a hole in a wall of a building after shelling in Zalissya, Ukraine. EPA -
A booby trap found by locals near their home in Zalissya. EPA -
Debris of a school bus near a damaged school that was a base for Russian troops in Bohdanivka, Ukraine. EPA -
A man examines the debris of a destroyed Russian tank in Bohdanivka. EPA -
President Joe Biden speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Des Moines International Airport, en route to Washington. AP -
Valentina Saroyan sits in the basement of a school in Yahidne, near Chernihiv, Ukraine. AP -
Vasyl Cherepenko stands next to a mass grave at a cemetery in Yahidne, near Dnipro, Ukraine. AP -
Oksana, second from left, and Yevhen, right, talk with police officers next to their apartment building damaged by shelling in Irpin, Ukraine. AP -
Women bid farewell to relatives as they leave the Slovyansk central station in the Donbas region. AFP -
The partially destroyed Mariupol drama theatre in Ukraine, hit on March 16 by an air strike. AFP -
A man embraces his wife as she prepares to board a train at Slovyansk central station in the Donbas region. AFP -
A woman walks through a damaged apartment building after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP -
A missile pierces the road in front of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building amid Russia's attack on Ukraine. Reuters -
A boy walks by unexploded Russian shells in the village of Andriyivka close to Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
Ukrainian tanks move down a street in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
A man walks past a storage place for burned armed vehicles and cars, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
Local residents stand on top of a Russian tank on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
Ukrainian families, who have fled Kherson amid the Russian invasion, watch a dolphin show at a hotel in Odesa, Ukraine. Reuters -
Residents stand outside their apartments as shops burn after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP -
Irina Szymanska holds her baby in a temporary shelter at the central train station for displaced people heading to Poland in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty Images -
A man walks in his yard, damaged by shelling, in the village of Andriivka, Ukraine. EPA -
Sixty-two-year-old Luba hugs a Ukrainian servicewoman in Andriivka. EPA -
A woman washes clothes in the yard of a ruined house in Andriivka. EPA -
Russian soldiers patrol a street in Volnovakha, in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. The picture was taken during a trip organised by the Russian military. AFP -
Russian mine clearers search for explosive objects in a building the Russian authorities say was damaged by Ukrainian shelling. AFP -
A woman reads a book as residents find shelter from shelling in a metro station in Kharkiv. Reuters -
Firefighters try to contain a fire at a plant in Kharkiv following Russian shelling. Reuters -
Farm owner Zlobina Lubov tends to her animals in the village of Malaya Rohan, Ukraine. Reuters -
A bathtub is seen inside a building that was heavily damaged by shelling in Kharkiv. Reuters -
A man looks out of his window, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Borodianka. Reuters -
Soldiers 'came to my house and said go to the basement' Zinaida Makishaiva, 82, said, before they started to shoot around her. 'God saved my life,' she said. Reuters -
A mother waits for police officers to exhume the body of her son from a well at a fuel station in Buzova, Kyiv region. According to the head of the village, he was killed by Russian soldiers. Reuters
