PM tells Euronews: Putin is a war criminal

The Polish prime minister has praised a fund-raising conference for Ukraine that raised over USD 6 billion for the war-torn country, but stressed that more money is needed.

The International Donors’ Conference for Ukraine, held on Thursday in Warsaw and sponsored by the Polish and Swedish governments, brought together a number of government leaders.

In an interview for Euronews, aired on Friday, Mateusz Morawiecki said the money was more than expected but was still insufficient to meet all needs, and appealed for continued efforts to aid Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Morawiecki said Poland was also providing Ukraine with military aid and has to date sent USD 1.6-1.7 billions’ worth of weaponry to the country. He said the arms supplies were “very diversified,” ranging from tanks to anti-aircraft missiles.

He stressed that the Polish government was in touch with the Ukrainian authorities in order to know what was needed, adding that Poland was not only aiding Ukraine with its own resources but was also overseeing aid supplies from other countries.

Rounding on Ukraine’s attacker, Morawiecki called Russia “imperial” and “nationalistic”, and warned that Moscow wanted to re-establish its hegemony in the region and revive “a post-Soviet state.”

He described Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a war criminal responsible for acts of genocide and said he cannot imagine the EU returning to “business as usual” with Russia as long as Putin remained in power.

“This Russia is totalitarian, it’s nationalistic, it’s imperial, and this Russia wants to re-establish the Russian empire and a post-Soviet Union type of state… We cannot see a situation where there’s a retreat to business as usual. Women and children are dying. Russia commits genocide in Ukraine and war crimes. Not with this regime… Putin is a war criminal and what he’s responsible for in Ukraine is simply beyond one’s imagination,” Morawiecki said.

He also proposed the creation of an international tribunal “to trace the crimes and make justice again when the war is over.”

Referring to Russia’s nuclear threats, Morawiecki dismissed them as a sign of weakness and said the Kremlin will “think twice” before launching any kind of military aggression against neighbouring countries.

He warned, however, that nothing was certain regarding Russia’s plans, as they lay entirely “in the hand of the leaders of (the – PAP) Kremlin.”

But the war, Morawiecki speculated, could “end rather earlier than later,” and stressed that this chiefly depended on “the courage and determination of the Ukrainian people.”

He added that the Ukrainians deserved gratitude from the rest of Europe, as they were fighting not just for their freedom, but that of the entire continent.