Latest news with #Sikorski
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Warsaw has no plans to deploy its troops to Ukraine, says Polish foreign minister
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has said that there are no plans to send Polish soldiers to Ukraine, following a statement by US President Donald Trump's special envoy on Ukraine, Keith Kellogg. Source: European Pravda, citing Polish news magazine Wprost Details: On Tuesday 13 May, Kellogg noted that the deployment of foreign forces, including Polish troops, west of the Dnipro River is being discussed as part of a potential settlement following the end of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. Quote from Sikorski: "Stop manipulating." Details: Sikorski believes that Kellogg "over-interpreted" the idea that Poland could take part in such an operation, if it goes ahead. "But, as the defence minister, the prime minister and I have stated many times, our participation in the operation will not include the presence of Polish soldiers on Ukrainian soil," Sikorski said. The Polish foreign minister noted that, from Warsaw's perspective, the issue would involve aerial support, protection of a logistics hub and the defence of over 600 km of border with Russia and Belarus to safeguard the troops heading to Ukraine. Background: Polish National Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz also denied that Warsaw intends to deploy its forces in Ukraine as part of a postwar settlement between Kyiv and Moscow. Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of Poland's largest opposition party, accused Prime Minister Donald Tusk of "deception" over the possible deployment of Polish troops in Ukraine, following Kellogg's statement. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Epoch Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Poland Shuts Russian Consulate in Krakow Over 2024 Mall Arson
Poland has said it will shut down the Russian Consulate in Krakow on Monday after finding evidence that the country was behind a fire that ripped through a Warsaw shopping mall last year. The NATO member state's foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, announced the move on May 12, a year to the day after the Marywilska 44 blaze broke out. 'Due to evidence that the Russian special services committed a reprehensible act of sabotage against the shopping centre on Marywilska Street, I have decided to withdraw my consent to the operation of the Consulate of the Russian Federation in Krakow,' Sikorski He later discussed the move at a meeting of foreign ministers in London, saying Polish security forces had found evidence that agents acting for Moscow had committed arson. 'This was a huge fire of a shopping mall in Warsaw in which, just by sheer luck, nobody was hurt. This is completely unacceptable. So the Russian consulate will have to leave. ... And if these attacks continue, we'll take further action,' he said. This is not he first time he has taken such an action. Last year, he ordered the Russian Consulate in Poznan to be shut down due to acts of sabotage in the country that Warsaw attributed to Moscow. Related Stories 5/9/2025 3/27/2025 Now, the sole Russian consulate in Poland is located in the city of Gdansk. Sikorski's statements followed Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's revelation on Sunday night that officials in Warsaw 'now know for certain that the massive fire on Marywilska was the result of arson commissioned by Russian services.' 'The actions were coordinated by a person residing in Russia. Some of the perpetrators are already in custody, while the rest have been identified and are being sought,' Tusk Moscow's ambassador was also summoned to the Polish Foreign Ministry on Monday for a meeting in the afternoon. 'The ambassador was invited to the ministry at 15:00 (CET),' Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski said on Monday. Moscow said it would respond to the closure of its consulate in Krakow, a historic city and popular tourist destination in the south of Poland. 'Warsaw deliberately seeks to ruin the relations, by acting against its citizens. An appropriate response to these inadequate steps will follow soon,' Kremlin Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian state news agency After Russia's consulate in Poznan was shut down last year, Moscow retaliated by closing the Polish Consulate in St. Petersburg. Most of Marywilska 44, which housed around 1,400 stores and was one of the Polish capital's largest shopping centers, was destroyed in the inferno last year and still remains closed, though the adjacent Park Handlowy Marywilska 44 is operational. Poland says it has been targeted by sabotage actions as part of what it says is a 'hybrid war' by Russia to destabilize the countries supporting Ukraine. Investigators in Warsaw are currently working with counterparts in Lithuania, which has also fallen victim to Russian-backed sabbotage, Polish Justice Minister Adam Bodnar and Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said in a 'We have in-depth knowledge of the order and course of the arson and the way in which the perpetrators documented it. Their actions were organized and directed by an identified person staying in the Russian Federation,' they said. 'The Polish authorities are determined to hold accountable the perpetrators of the heinous acts of sabotage and those who directed them.' In March, Lithuanian prosecutors accused Moscow's GRU military intelligence agency of being behind an arson attack on a branch of IKEA in the capital Vilnius, which burst into flames three days before the Marywilska 44 fire. Russia denies any involvement in the arson attacks in either country.
Int'l Business Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Poland To Close Russian Consulate In Krakow Over 'Sabotage'
Poland's top diplomat said on Monday he ordered the closure of a Russian consulate over "sabotage", after authorities accused Russia of orchestrating a fire that destroyed a Warsaw shopping centre last year. Russia immediately vowed an "adequate response" to Poland over the closure of the consulate in the southern city of Krakow. Since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv's ally Poland has claimed to be the target of sabotage attempts blamed on Russia. Bordering Ukraine, Poland -- a NATO and European Union member -- is one of the main countries through which Western nations supply weapons and ammunition to Kyiv. "Due to evidence that it was the Russian secret services that carried out the reprehensible act of sabotage against the Marywilska shopping centre, I have decided to withdraw my authorisation for the activity of the Russian consulate in Krakow," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Monday. "I have a message for Russian authorities: we know what you are doing, we don't accept it and we are taking the appropriate measures," he added later. Sikorski said Poland had already closed Russia's consulate in the western city of Poznan last year "after the previous act of sabotage". Russia still has a consulate in the port city of Gdansk and an embassy in Warsaw. Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said "an adequate response to these inadequate steps will follow shortly". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the accusations were "baseless". "Poland is choosing hostility," he alleged, accusing Poland of "dismantling bilateral relations", which he said were "already in a deplorable state". Poland's foreign ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski said it had summoned a representative of Russia's embassy for Monday afternoon. "It was a huge fire. It's a miracle no-one died," he told reporters. In May 2024, a blaze completely destroyed a large shopping centre in Warsaw and the 1,400 businesses it housed, most of them owned by members of the Vietnamese community. Authorities opened an investigation and on Sunday pinned the blame on Moscow. "We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services," said Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The justice and interior ministries said in a statement on Sunday that some of the alleged perpetrators were already in custody, while others had been identified but were still at large. "Their actions were organised and directed by a specific person residing in the Russian Federation," the ministries said. On Monday, national prosecutors said they had charged two Ukrainian men with participating in an organised criminal group and carrying out sabotage on behalf of Russia. "The goal of the group's activity was to carry out arson on large sites" in the European Union, they said. "This group was notably also responsible for setting fire to an IKEA store" in Vilnius last year. In May 2024, Poland imposed restrictions on the movements of Russian diplomats on its soil, due to Moscow's "involvement" in a "hybrid war". Poland later ordered the closure of Russia's consulate in Poznan and said it was willing to close the other consulates if acts of "terrorism" continued. In January, Russia closed the Polish consulate in Saint Petersburg in retaliation.
France 24
12-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Poland to close Russian consulate in Krakow over 'sabotage'
Russia immediately vowed an "adequate response" to Poland over the closure of the consulate in the southern city of Krakow. Since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv's ally Poland has claimed to be the target of sabotage attempts blamed on Russia. Bordering Ukraine, Poland -- a NATO and European Union member -- is one of the main countries through which Western nations supply weapons and ammunition to Kyiv. "Due to evidence that it was the Russian secret services that carried out the reprehensible act of sabotage against the Marywilska shopping centre, I have decided to withdraw my authorisation for the activity of the Russian consulate in Krakow," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Monday. "I have a message for Russian authorities: we know what you are doing, we don't accept it and we are taking the appropriate measures," he added later. Sikorski said Poland had already closed Russia's consulate in the western city of Poznan last year "after the previous act of sabotage". Russia still has a consulate in the port city of Gdansk and an embassy in Warsaw. Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said "an adequate response to these inadequate steps will follow shortly". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the accusations were "baseless". "Poland is choosing hostility," he alleged, accusing Poland of "dismantling bilateral relations", which he said were "already in a deplorable state". 'Hybrid war' Poland's foreign ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski said it had summoned a representative of Russia's embassy for Monday afternoon. "It was a huge fire. It's a miracle no-one died," he told reporters. In May 2024, a blaze completely destroyed a large shopping centre in Warsaw and the 1,400 businesses it housed, most of them owned by members of the Vietnamese community. Authorities opened an investigation and on Sunday pinned the blame on Moscow. "We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services," said Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The justice and interior ministries said in a statement on Sunday that some of the alleged perpetrators were already in custody, while others had been identified but were still at large. "Their actions were organised and directed by a specific person residing in the Russian Federation," the ministries said. On Monday, national prosecutors said they had charged two Ukrainian men with participating in an organised criminal group and carrying out sabotage on behalf of Russia. "The goal of the group's activity was to carry out arson on large sites" in the European Union, they said. "This group was notably also responsible for setting fire to an IKEA store" in Vilnius last year. In May 2024, Poland imposed restrictions on the movements of Russian diplomats on its soil, due to Moscow's "involvement" in a "hybrid war". Poland later ordered the closure of Russia's consulate in Poznan and said it was willing to close the other consulates if acts of "terrorism" continued.
12-05-2025
- Politics
Poland orders closure of Russian consulate in Krakow, citing arson attack blamed on Moscow
WARSAW, Poland -- Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said Monday that he was ordering the closure of Russia's consulate in the southern city of Krakow after Polish authorities said Russia was responsible for a fire that destroyed a shopping center in Warsaw last year. The fire broke out May 12, 2024, in the Marywilska 44 shopping center that housed some 1,400 shops and service points, a budget marketplace in a warehouse-like structure in a northern district of Warsaw. Many of the vendors were from Vietnam, and it inflicted tragedy on many in Warsaw's Vietnamese community. Sikorski announced the closure in a statement published in Warsaw on Monday morning, exactly one year after the fire. He also addressed the matter during a visit to Britain, telling reporters the decision was taken because the Justice Ministry and Security forces found evidence that Russia had committed arson. '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,' he added. 'And if these attacks continue, we'll take further action.' Russia's Foreign Ministry said Monday that there would be an 'adequate response' to the consulate's closure. 'Warsaw is continuing to deliberately destroy relations (between Poland and Russia) and acting against the interests of its citizens,' ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, as quoted by Russian news outlet Interfax. Sikorski last year already ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Poznan, one of three at the time in Poland, in response to acts of sabotage including arson attacks that he said were sponsored by Moscow. This leaves only one Russian consulate left, in Gdansk. There are rising concerns in Europe over Russian attempts to destabilize the region through covert operations. Russia has denied that it is doing that. Countries along NATO's eastern flank, like Poland and the Baltic states, feel especially vulnerable. Lithuania in March accused Russia of carrying out an arson attack last year at an IKEA in Vilnius, the capital. Authorities in these countries have been cooperating as they see that some of the alleged perpetrators work across borders. Lithuania's prosecutor general's office said the suspect in the Vilnius IKEA fire carried out planning during a secret meeting in Warsaw to set fire to and blow up shopping centers in Lithuania and Latvia for a monetary reward. Sikorski's announcement followed Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying late Sunday that Polish officials 'now know for certain that the massive fire on Marywilska was the result of arson commissioned by Russian services.' 'The actions were coordinated by a person residing in Russia. Some of the perpetrators are already in custody, while the rest have been identified and are being sought,' Tusk said on X. 'We will catch them all!'
