Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called for a blanket freeze on all Russian state assets in light of the country’s ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
The Polish leader made his remarks following a Lublin Triangle summit in Warsaw of which the main topic was the continuous joint support and aid being offered by Poland and Lithuania to Ukraine.
“Times are changing, generations are passing, but Russia continues to conduct a policy of aggression and is using natural resources to blackmail the rest of Europe,” Morawiecki told reporters following the talks.
“We will do everything to help Ukraine defend its sovereignty. If Ukrainian sovereignty will be destroyed, European values of freedom and independence will be destroyed as well,” the Polish prime minister added.
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He also appealed for the full freezing of Russian state assets and of those belonging to Russian oligarchs.
“Let them [the assets] serve to rebuild the country which is currently heroically defending its independence and sovereignty,” Morawiecki stated.
Both Poland and Lithuania called for the imposition of severe sanctions on Russian resources and have been aiming to achieve strategic independence from Russian energy. Both countries, and especially Poland, have been providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees, with more than 1.75 million refugees having now crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border, according to U.N. data.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, who participated in the meeting via video link, expressed his sincere thanks to Lithuania and Poland for the strong solidarity and great help that Ukraine feels every day.
His Lithuanian counterpart, Ingrid Simonyte, stated that she had discussed the matter of joint means for the defense of both Poland and Lithuania, and emphasized that the evaluation of current risks and security had changed after Russia used Belarusian territory as a launchpad for its invasion of Ukraine. She declared that the time had come to move from a concept of deterrence and prevention to a concept of defense.
The prime ministers of the Lublin Triangle nations passed a joint declaration which condemned the brutal and unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine and stressed the need for the European Union to become independent of Russian energy imports as soon as possible. In the declaration, Poland and Lithuania acknowledged Ukraine’s European choice and envisaged recognizing the country as an EU member state in the near future.
The leaders also paid tribute to what they described as the heroic Ukrainian soldiers and nation which have been opposing the ongoing Russian aggression.
