Speaking at the Yalta European Strategy summit — organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation — on Friday alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, the Polish prime minister praised Ukrainian troops “fighting with the hearts of lions on the battlefield.” “It seems that it will not be so easy for the Kremlin to defeat them, to win the war on the battlefield,” Morawiecki said. “So they may want to destabilize Ukraine by not allowing any financial support.” “They can have a huge impact on Western Europe,” the Polish prime minister continued. “They may want to organize it through their silent allies, through their agents, through their propaganda… they may want to prevent European institutions, public opinion, from giving money to Ukraine. “They can create a situation where Ukraine can go bankrupt. And what will happen then, if the Ukrainian state is not able to pay soldiers, teachers, nurses, doctors and judges? This could be another situation where the common opinion in Ukraine could potentially change.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shakes hands with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki after a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine on September 9, 2022. Alexey Furman/Getty Images Ukraine, aided by advanced NATO weapons, has regained battlefield momentum in the ongoing invasion, opening significant holes in Russian lines in the south and northeast of the country. Russian forces, on the other hand, took months to secure small territorial gains in the eastern Donbas region. However, Kyiv faces inflation of more than 20%, an annual budget deficit of 22% of GDP—about $50 billion—and a reconstruction bill of about $350 billion. “We are suffering,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said last month. Western allies should not hesitate to provide financial and military aid to bolster Ukraine, Morawiecki said. “If your neighbor’s house is on fire, yours is not safe either,” the prime minister said. “This should not be the wisdom of Central and Eastern Europe, but this should be the knowledge and understanding of the rest of Europe.” Morawiecki was joined on the YES panel by Latvian President Egils Levits, both of whom said they planned to “push” EU allies into new talks on Ukraine’s proposed accession to the bloc. Ukraine was granted candidate status in June. A full climb would unlock massive EU funds for Kyiv. Poland and its Baltic neighbors have traditionally been more aggressive with Russia than most of their Western allies, particularly European nations such as France and Germany, whose leaders have sought to ease hostilities through trade with Moscow in recent decades. . Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine has vindicated EU-NATO Russia skeptics, who are now urging Western capitals to shift to a more assertive stance against the Kremlin. “Ukraine is fighting for your freedom and ours, and the future of the free world,” Morawiecki said. “This should be understood by everyone, including our Italian friends, and German partners, and the French and others, because everyone sometimes had a slightly different opinion.” He added: “Unfortunately it happens again and again. And indecision, delay, procrastination and hesitation are the parents of failure. “Some people in Western Europe and elsewhere want to go back to business as usual. I hope there is no way they can go back to business as usual. Because, god forbid, a victory for Putin would only mean another war right after.”
