Latest news with #PolandRussiaRelations
Fox News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Poland orders Russian consulate in Krakow closed after blaming Kremlin for 2024 arson
Polish officials ordered the closure of Russia's consulate in Krakow on Monday after an investigation concluded that Moscow was responsible for a 2024 arson that destroyed a shopping center in Warsaw. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski announced the closure on Monday and also remarked on the matter during a visit to the U.K. It came after the conclusion of a year-long investigation into a blaze that destroyed a shopping center with some 1,400 stores last year. "This was a huge fire of a shopping mall in Warsaw in which, just by sheer luck, nobody was hurt. This is completely unacceptable," Sikorski said. "So the Russian consulate will have to leave, and if these attacks continue, we'll take further action." Russian officials have denied wrongdoing and condemned Poland's decision in statements to the press. "Warsaw is continuing to deliberately destroy relations and acting against the interests of its citizens," ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, according to Russian media. The incident comes just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey on Thursday. Putin initially proposed the Thursday meeting this weekend, and President Donald Trump prompted Zelenskyy to accept the offer. Putin said the talks in Istanbul must be held without preconditions and with the goal of lasting peace. Putin has thus far offered few, if any, concessions but is now saying talks should address the root causes of the war. He said Sunday that he planned to speak to Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan about facilitating the negotiations, which he said could result in a ceasefire. "Our proposal, as they say, is on the table," Putin said. "The decision is now up to the Ukrainian authorities and their curators, who are guided, it seems, by their personal political ambitions, and not by the interests of their peoples." The Russian leader said he does not rule out that Moscow and Kyiv will agree on "some new truces, a new ceasefire" during negotiations in Turkey, saying that the talks would be the first step toward a "sustainable" peace.
Al Arabiya
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Poland to close Russian consulate in Krakow, citing arson attack
Poland will close the Russian consulate in Krakow after finding evidence that Moscow was responsible for a massive fire that almost completely destroyed a Warsaw shopping center in May 2024, the Polish foreign minister said on Monday. Already tense relations between Warsaw and Moscow have hit new lows since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Poland says its own role as a hub for aid for Kyiv has made it a target of Russian sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation - allegations that Moscow denies. On Sunday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland knew 'for sure' that Russian secret services were behind the huge fire on Marywilska Street in the capital. 'Due to evidence that the Russian special services committed a reprehensible act of sabotage against the shopping center on Marywilska Street, I have decided to withdraw my consent to the operation of the Consulate of the Russian Federation in Krakow,' Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote on X. The Russian foreign ministry said Poland was cutting its ties with Moscow on purpose, state news agency RIA reported. 'Warsaw continues to deliberately destroy relations, acting against the interests of its citizens,' state news agency RIA quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying. She added that Russia would soon deliver an 'adequate response.' In October, Poland announced it would shut down the Russian consulate in Poznan due to suspected Russian attempts at sabotage. Russia closed the Polish consulate in St. Petersburg in response. In addition to Krakow and Poznan, Russia has a consulate in Gdansk and its embassy in Warsaw. In March, Lithuanian prosecutors accused Russia's military intelligence of orchestrating an arson attack on an IKEA store in Vilnius, which broke out three days before the shopping center fire in neighboring Poland. Russia has denied involvement in the arson attacks.
