Donald Trump could make a “historical mistake” if he recognises Russian claims to occupied Ukrainian territory during peace negotiations, a top Polish official has warned.
In an interview with British newspaper The Financial Times published on Sunday, Paweł Kowal, who advises Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Ukraine, said a “red line” would be crossed for Central and Eastern Europe if the United States recognised Russian borders expanded through military aggression.
Kowal spoke ahead of his trip to Washington, where he is expected to meet senior members of the U.S. Congress and Trump’s special envoy on Ukraine, Keith Kellogg.
The official said there is a clear difference between “provisional solutions” aimed at ending the fighting in Ukraine and meeting “Russian expectations to recognise Crimea, Donbas or other parts of Ukraine, which would be a historical mistake.”
Such recognition, he warned, would set a “horrible” precedent and embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin to expand his project of “imperial Russia,” an attempt to reassert Russian influence across territories formerly under the Russian Empire or Soviet Union.
“Russia, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, recognised Ukraine with their borders, also including Crimea and Donbas, and that’s the basis of the rules of international law,” he added.
“The international legal guarantees for borders in central Europe are also some of the main guarantees to keep peace in that region, according to our historical experience.”
Since assuming office in January, Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has moved swiftly to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Since February, senior members of his administration have held separate peace talks with Russian and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.
However, Trump’s calls for concessions have raised concerns in European capitals that he might push for a settlement that pressures Kyiv to cede parts of its occupied territories to Moscow.
Apart from Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, Moscow currently occupies parts of Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
Kowal spoke ahead of his trip to Washington, where he is expected to meet senior members of the U.S. Congress and Trump’s special envoy on Ukraine, Keith Kellogg.
The official said there is a clear difference between “provisional solutions” aimed at ending the fighting in Ukraine and meeting “Russian expectations to recognise Crimea, Donbas or other parts of Ukraine, which would be a historical mistake.”
Such recognition, he warned, would set a “horrible” precedent and embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin to expand his project of “imperial Russia,” an attempt to reassert Russian influence across territories formerly under the Russian Empire or Soviet Union.
“Russia, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, recognised Ukraine with their borders, also including Crimea and Donbas, and that’s the basis of the rules of international law,” he added.
“The international legal guarantees for borders in central Europe are also some of the main guarantees to keep peace in that region, according to our historical experience.”
Peace talks and Russian demands
Since assuming office in January, Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has moved swiftly to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Since February, senior members of his administration have held separate peace talks with Russian and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.
However, Trump’s calls for concessions have raised concerns in European capitals that he might push for a settlement that pressures Kyiv to cede parts of its occupied territories to Moscow.
Apart from Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, Moscow currently occupies parts of Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
Moscow wants these regions to be recognized as part of Russia, a demand that Kyiv and its European allies firmly reject.
However, Kowal expressed hope that, ultimately, Trump would not allow Russia to control occupied Ukrainian territories and would recognise the threat posed by Putin.
Kowal also said that “it’s very difficult to discuss security in Ukraine in isolation from the general security issue of central Europe,” referring to Trump’s exclusion of European partners from peace negotiations.
He added that security guarantees to Kyiv, currently ruled out by Trump, must be offered if the U.S. president wants American firms to invest in Ukraine.
“For the politicians, it’s very easy to separate political guarantees from business guarantees and from military guarantees, but if real [corporate] money is to invest in Ukraine, they will ask for serious American guarantees,” the advisor said.
However, Kowal expressed hope that, ultimately, Trump would not allow Russia to control occupied Ukrainian territories and would recognise the threat posed by Putin.
Kowal also said that “it’s very difficult to discuss security in Ukraine in isolation from the general security issue of central Europe,” referring to Trump’s exclusion of European partners from peace negotiations.
He added that security guarantees to Kyiv, currently ruled out by Trump, must be offered if the U.S. president wants American firms to invest in Ukraine.
“For the politicians, it’s very easy to separate political guarantees from business guarantees and from military guarantees, but if real [corporate] money is to invest in Ukraine, they will ask for serious American guarantees,” the advisor said.
