Duda said Russian propaganda about Moscow’s goal of “de-zoning” Ukraine showed that the country was looking for a false pretext “to carry out a massacre.” “The fact that civilians are being killed in Ukraine shows better what the target is [the] “It is a Russian invasion,” he said through a translator. “The aim of this invasion is simply to wipe out the Ukrainian nation.” Duda, who was first elected President of Poland in 2015 and has served through three US governments, leads the country as he plays a key role in supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia, fights with an influx of Ukrainian refugees, pushes for further sanctions on Russia and arms supplies to Ukraine. Millions of Ukrainians have fled the country’s border to Poland. As a member of the NATO alliance, Poland has been one of the countries where US and NATO troops have been deployed to bolster NATO’s east side as a deterrent to Russia. There were also some challenges. Ukraine sought Polish MiG-29 fighter jets to help in its fight against Russia, but efforts to move the planes to Ukraine failed after Poland publicly offered to supply them to the US via a German air base for shipment to Ukraine. The United States has said such a plan was not feasible and that the planes were not sent. In the interview, Duda questioned the usefulness of diplomatic efforts with Russia at this point in the conflict. He said he was not surprised by Polish Prime Minister Matthew Morawiecki’s criticism of French President Emmanuel Macron this week when Morawiecki said: “No one negotiated with Hitler.” “Dialogue with Russia does not make sense,” Duda said. “Someone has to impose very harsh conditions on Vladimir Putin. He has to say, ‘Unless you meet these conditions, we have nothing to discuss.’ “which achieves nothing is just a game to save time from Russia.” As part of these circumstances, Duda called for additional sanctions against Russia and its energy sector, expressing its sadness at Europe’s continued dependence on Russian energy even when deadly sanctions were imposed on other sectors. “The sanctions regime needs to be strengthened. I have no doubt about that,” Duda said. “This is of course a very complex task … The problem, however, is that for some countries, this is fundamental for them.” Duda noted that Poland opposed the construction of gas pipelines between Russia and Germany, saying they were “political projects” designed to bypass Poland and the Baltic states. Requested the dismantling of the new Nord Stream II pipeline. “Russia is blackmailing not only Germany, it is blackmailing the whole of Europe right now,” Duda said. “The fact that we say that it is impossible to impose an embargo on Russian gas, it is not possible to impose an embargo on Russian oil immediately.”
