Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, has said in an interview for The Washington Post that he could not rule out Russia using nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war. He also pointed out that “we are not going to surrender. We are not going to leave Ukraine without support not only military but also financial.”
“I would not exclude any option, because Russia is now in a place where it has never expected itself to be, and it probably will escalate the situation in Ukraine,” said Morawiecki, when asked by interviewer David Ignatius, during the Washington Post Live morning show, about the possibility of Moscow using nuclear weapons.
He expressed the hope that this escalation would not be based on the use of nuclear weapons but said that “it is clear to me that the Kremlin does not view the war in Ukraine as the only battlefield,” going on to mention, among others, such areas as cyberspace, the economy, and propaganda.
PM @MorawieckiM for the @washingtonpost on the war in #Ukraine, possible scenarios and support for the fighting Ukrainians⬇️ pic.twitter.com/SB4b5jumv0
— Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland (@PremierRP_en) October 25, 2022
Morawiecki also said that Poland had made preparations for various scenarios, both from a military perspective within NATO and, for example, by expanding the network of shelters.
“On the one hand these are these normal preparations but on the other hand we are part of the strongest alliance in the world, NATO, and we believe that President Putin and the Kremlin will stop short of using a disastrous weapon of mass destruction,” he said.
The prime minister also said that Poland had plans in case Russia attacked Polish territory, for example by hitting arms transports to Ukraine. He also referred to the words of US President Joe Biden during his visit to Warsaw, when he declared that the USA would defend every inch of NATO territory.
“I strongly believe that the words which President Biden said in Warsaw several months ago that not even an inch of NATO soil can be attacked without serious consequences and a counter strike based on solidarity. We have been a reliable ally of the US and NATO for the last 25 years and we believe that we have this shelter and support from NATO and the US in particular,” Morawiecki said.
PM @MorawieckiM for the @washingtonpost on the war in Ukraine, possible scenarios and support for the fighting Ukrainians⬇️ pic.twitter.com/LNNtztJpEx
— Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland (@PremierRP_en) October 25, 2022
“Having said that, we already have good anti-missile and anti-aircraft systems prepared in cooperation with the US Army and with our United Kingdom friends and this is not, as we know, 100-per cent guarantee but our sky is also quite well covered,” said the head of government.
“We are not going to surrender. We are not going to leave Ukraine without support not only military but also financial, because this could be the next big game of the Kremlin to make Ukraine go bankrupt,” he added.
PM @MorawieckiM for the @washingtonpost on the war in #Ukraine, possible scenarios and support for the fighting Ukrainians⬇️ pic.twitter.com/hZ7WIr5xxj
— Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland (@PremierRP_en) October 25, 2022