Poland slams Ukraine for ‘inappropriate behavior’

Kiev’s reluctance to provide the “secret” details of its so-called victory plan will lead nowhere, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Teofil Bartoszewski

Ukraine’s refusal to give Poland access to the classified provisions of Vladimir Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’ is unreasonable and misguided, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Teofil Bartoszewski has said.

Last week, Zelensky presented to the national parliament his long-awaited roadmap for prevailing in the conflict with Russia, consisting of five public and three classified points. The part made public included demands that the West immediately extend an invitation to Ukraine to join NATO and lift restrictions on the use of foreign-made long-range weapons for strikes deep into Russia.

Zelensky also proposed that the West “deploy a comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrence package” on Ukrainian soil, among other points.

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Mikhail Podoliak, a top adviser to Zelensky, later provided a glimpse of the “secret” provisions, explaining that they include a list of targets, a plan of action, and a detailing of the weapons needed to carry out long-range attacks against Russia.

However, Kiev’s tight-lipped approach has elicited discontent in Poland, which has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters since the outbreak of the hostilities. In an interview with Radio ZET on Tuesday, Bartoszewski called the decision “inappropriate behavior” that “leads nowhere.” 

“We helped Ukraine from the very beginning. We sent tanks, planes, we were a political advocate,” he recalled.

The diplomat’s comments came after Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz noted that while many Western countries “would like Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’ to be implemented in their hearts,” there is an apparent lack of enthusiasm due to the dire frontline situation and “enormous war fatigue.” The minister added that the Kiev-proposed roadmap does not offer a “clear bright light that will immediately change reality” and solve all of Ukraine’s problems.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed Zelensky’s proposal as “the same American plan to keep fighting a war with us to the last Ukrainian” disguised as a peace initiative. He added that a real plan would only be possible if Kiev “sobers up and reflects on the causes that have led to the Ukraine conflict.