Poland Issues Grim Prediction for Russia if It Attacks

Poland has issued a grim prediction for Russia should President Vladimir Putin attack the NATO member state.

In an interview with German newspaper Bild published on Sunday, Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski weighed in on the possibility of his country coming under attack from Russia in the future.

Russian officials have regularly floated the possibility that Russia could strike NATO members in response to the aid and weapons they have provided Ukraine with in the ongoing war. Poland's military has said throughout the war that Russian cruise missiles fired at western Ukraine have entered its airspace. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

Poland "wouldn't be surprised at all" if Russia attacks, but it will ultimately lose because it is much weaker than the West, said Sikorski.

"Russia has attacked Poland many times in the 500 years of our history," he added. "But in this scenario, Russia will lose, because we, the West, are far more powerful than Russia."

"Ukraine is not fighting alone. In contrast to what often happened in the past, we won't be fighting alone," Sikorski said.

He stressed the importance of Ukraine winning the ongoing war, which began after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

"We have a choice: either we have a defeated Russian army outside the borders of Ukraine or a victorious Russian army on the border with Poland. And what Putin would do then is what Hitler did with Czechoslovakia; he would take the industry and the people in Ukraine and mobilize them to keep going," Sikorski said. "It is better to stop Putin in Ukraine, 500 to 700 kilometers [310 to 435 miles] east of here."

When asked to weigh in on whether NATO members might be attacked by Russia in the future, Sikorski said German politicians "seem to accept that Russia would only be ready in four or five years—and by then, Germany would also be ready."

"But the thing is, before Russia gets to Germany, it has to go through several other countries," Sikorski added.

Putin in March dismissed any suggestions that his country could launch an attack on a NATO member.

"Their statements about our alleged intention to attack Europe after Ukraine is sheer nonsense," Putin said, noting that Washington's defense budget is more than 10 times Moscow's. "In view of that, are we going to wage a war against NATO? It's ravings."

This sentiment was echoed by Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on April 26. He said Russia has never had any plans in place to attack members of the NATO military alliance.

"The Russian Federation has never threatened NATO. We have neither geopolitical nor military interests to attack the states of the bloc. We are simply protecting our people in our historical territories," Shoigu said during a meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Russia has always made "maximum efforts to maintain strategic stability and the balance of power in the world," Shoigu added.

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