Poland’s ex-PM Tusk denies claim he and Putin agreed to partition Ukraine
Donald Tusk denies claims made by former foreign minister Radek Sikorski that he discussed plans with Russia's President vladimir Putin to carve up Ukraine
Poland’s former prime minister, Donald Tusk, denied on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that their two nations carve up Ukraine.
That claim was made by former foreign minister Radek Sikorski in an interview with the Politico new organisation published on Sunday. It sparked a huge outcry in Poland, and Sikorski almost immediately backed away from the allegations, saying his memory had failed him.
“In none of the meetings with President Putin was such a proposition made.”
Sikorski had said the offer was made in a one-on-one meeting between Tusk and Putin in Moscow in 2008.
The episode has been an embarrassment to Sikorski. Observers in Poland say he has hurt the country’s credibility on the foreign stage, particularly in dealings with Russia.
Until he stepped down as foreign minister last month to become parliamentary speaker, Sikorski had been a leading European voice urging a tough stance toward Moscow. Some of his political opponents are now calling for him to resign.
In an interview on Radio TOK-FM, Tusk said that Putin never suggested to him that Poland and Russia partition Ukraine.