India should not be neutral

Interview/ Rafal Trzaskowski,Warsaw mayor

Poland Russia Ukraine War Fears Rafal Trzaskowski | AP

Most refugees from Ukraine are coming to Poland, particularly Warsaw. How will you handle them?

A/The situation is very serious. Almost a million people have crossed the Ukraine-Poland border; (three lakh) in Warsaw alone. The population of my city has risen by 15 per cent. We are doing whatever we can, but we are slowly becoming overwhelmed.

We are worried about attacks in west Ukraine. We feel secure because we are a part of NATO. But, it makes us apprehensive when the targets are 20km from our border.

Q/Do you fear an attack on Poland?

A/I do not think Vladimir Putin would be so crazy as to attack the whole trans-Atlantic alliance. But, of course, we cannot exclude any provocation or accidents.

Q/How do you view NATO’s response?

A/The response of the UN, the EU, NATO and the western world was quite tough and quick. I do not think Putin expected that. The whole of the western world is helping Ukraine with weapons; some countries are giving offensive weapons. Two or three weeks ago, this could not have been imagined.

But, we need to be careful because we do not want this to escalate into a Third World War. So, it is difficult to draw the line on what we need to do or on what would actually invite more aggression from Putin. For the first time, the western world is going after Russian oligarchs; tough sanctions have been imposed.

Q/Are financial sanctions strong deterrents?

A/They are. Putin never expected them to be so strong. The effects are slowly becoming serious for the Russian economy and the people. Hopefully it would mean that the support for this invasion will be
lesser and lesser.

Q/How do you view Putin as a leader?

A/He is a war criminal now. He was a despot who tried to destabilise Europe. Look at what he is doing in Syria. He should be brought to justice.

Q/What about the stand taken by India and China?

A/I do not think anyone should take a neutral position when there is an attack by a despot against the country that did nothing to provoke such a despot. When we see hospitals being bombed and children being killed, there should be a uniform, united response. That is what one expects. India and China should have sided with the resolution in the UNSC and in the UN. What is the purpose of the UN, if not for preventing war? We can see this is not a small military operation; this is a full-scale war.

Q/So many days into the operation, Russia has still not taken Kyiv.

A/It is absolutely clear that Putin has been wrong on many counts. He thought the Ukrainian resistance would be much weaker, and that the Ukranian society would be divided. He has completely miscalculated [the situation]. That is why it is taking so long and I hope Putin will pay a price for it.

Even if he takes Kyiv, hopefully not, it will be very difficult for him to hold on to it. We see the spirit of the Ukrainian people and even if he takes half of Ukraine, the war will rage on, like the war raged on in Afghanistan.

I hope Putin will realise that he is losing and that he has to withdraw his troops. If he tries to occupy, he will pay a bigger price.

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