Polish troops would never leave Ukraine – Putin

Any attempt to send Polish troops into Ukraine could end in a long-term occupation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned in an extensive interview with journalist Dmitry Kiselyov, set to be aired by the Russia 1 TV broadcaster and RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

“If Polish troops enter the territory of Ukraine in order to, as they say, secure the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, for example, or in some other places to free up Ukrainian rear military units to participate in hostilities on the front line, then I think that Polish troops will never leave,” Putin said, according to excerpts from the interview.

The deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia is “not unthinkable,” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski claimed last week. He was commenting on a statement by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said late last month that he “cannot exclude” the possibility of soldiers from the US-led military bloc being sent to aid Kiev.

Macron’s comments sparked denials from senior officials in NATO member states, who insisted they harbor no such plans. Last week, the Polish Defense Ministry said it would not send any troops to Ukraine.

Putin believes that Polish officials dream of returning “those lands that they consider historically their own, and which were taken from them by… Joseph Stalin, and transferred to Ukraine.”

“They certainly want them back. So if official Polish units enter there, they are unlikely to leave,” he claimed.