Kaczyński claims Ukraine sought to draw Poland into war, create 'one state'
Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jarosław Kaczyński has claimed that Ukraine initially sought to draw Poland into its war with Russia, even through the creation of "one state" - an interpretation he based on a 2022 speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In that speech, Zelenskyy spoke of an "informal alliance" between Ukraine and Poland and said there were "no borders" between the two peoples, but did not propose merging the two countries or call on Poland to enter the war.
Kaczyński made the remarks at a youth congress in the Polish city of Augustów, according to Rzeczpospolita and Dziennik.pl.
"Initially, the Ukrainians had a somewhat strange concept - that they would draw us into this war, even through the creation of one state," Kaczyński said. "Zelenskyy's speech in the Sejm went precisely in that direction."
He said Ukraine later changed its approach toward Poland.
"Ukrainians sometimes expected things from us that, for various reasons - which I cannot talk about - we could not agree to," Kaczyński said, adding that the two sides usually found ways to preserve good relations.
He also argued that Kyiv had misjudged Poland's military capabilities at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, saying Poland at the time had "practically no real armed forces" and could not have entered the war.
What Zelenskyy said in 2022
Zelenskyy addressed the Polish parliament on March 11, 2022, just over two weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The speech repeatedly emphasized the close relationship between Ukrainians and Poles and thanked Poland for its support during the first weeks of the invasion.
"It became clear that between us, between our peoples, there are no longer any borders - physical, historical or personal," Zelenskyy said.
He also described the relationship between the countries as an alliance, while explicitly calling it informal.
"I feel that we have already formed an extraordinarily strong alliance. Perhaps an informal one. But an alliance that grew out of reality, not words on paper," he said.
Elsewhere, Zelenskyy said Ukraine and Poland together numbered 90 million people and could become leaders in protecting Europe from Russia. He also said the two countries had "already united" in their defense of freedom.
The speech did not contain a proposal to create a single Ukrainian-Polish state or ask Poland to join the war against Russia.