Polish special forces guarded Ukrainian delegation on its negotiations with Russia at beginning of invasion

The fighters of Polish special forces guarded the oligarch Roman Abramovich, who acted as a mediator in the Ukrainian-Russian negotiations in the first weeks of the full-scale war, and also guaranteed the safety of representatives of Ukraine at the negotiations in Brest, Belarus, in late February and early March 2022.

Source: Polish publication Dziennik Gazeta Prawna wrote about this on Tuesday with reference to its sources, reports European Pravda

Details: According to the material, the Ukrainian delegation led by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov was transported to Belarus on an S-70 Black Hawk helicopter belonging to the aviation group of the GROM military unit; the Ukrainian delegation was guarded by the operators of the Commandos military unit from Lublinets, who cooperated with the Ukrainian special forces long before the full-scale war.

The flights of Ukrainian high-ranking officials to Brest from the Polish side were overseen by  Michał Dworczyk, then Head of the Prime Minister's Office, and Marcin Pshidach, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In turn, the flights of the Ukrainian delegation and Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich for negotiations to Ankara were overseen by Jakub Kumokh, then a minister in the Office of the President of Poland. Kumokh, who is fluent in Turkish and was Poland's ambassador to Türkiye, accompanied the Ukrainians and Abramovich to Ankara.

Quote: "At the beginning of March, it was not clear whether the Ukrainians who flew to Belarus for negotiations could be sure of their return. The Polish security service gave certain guarantees that they would return unharmed," one of the participants of those events told Dziennik Gazeta Prawna on condition of anonymity.

The military who participated in the flights confirmed to the DGP that the risk of incidents was calculated during the operation. It was also analysed how to respond to a scenario in which there would be some kind of threat to soldiers from a NATO country.

The interlocutor of the Polish publication claims that the reason for Poland's involvement in the negotiations was the hope that the Russians, seeing the strength of Ukrainian resistance, "will start talking for real". "After the first negotiations, it became clear that it was an illusion," he added.

Dziennik Gazeta Prawna's source claims that during the negotiations in Brest, the Russians suggested to Reznikov that Ukraine declare its capitulation. The Head of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry allegedly sent Russians in the direction of the Russian warship [a reference to the phrase "Russian warship, go f*** yourself"; that was the reply of Ukrainian border guards who defended Zmiinyi (Snake) Island, when a Russian Black Sea Fleet vessel ordered them to surrender – ed.].

"The benefit was that the delegations informed us about the situation at the fronts. In addition, as a result of these negotiations, Abramovich's contacts appeared, and later helped in the exchange of prisoners of war from Azovstal for Russians. He himself, presumably, fought for his life. He wanted to stay in the West and at the same time not expose himself to danger from Putin," the interlocutor added.

More on the results of the negotiation in Türkiye:
No Peace, No Guarantees. Istanbul Ukraine-Russia War Talks Details and Results

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