Polish Foreign Minister explains how West can defeat Putin in "escalation game"

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski believes that Russia is not invincible and the West can defeat its leader Vladimir Putin.

Source: Radosław Sikorski during the Annual Ditchley Lecture, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Sikorski posted excerpts from his lecture for the UK-based Ditchley Foundation on his X account.

He said that Putin will win this war if he is not stopped, but added that he thought the West could still do it.

According to Sikorski, despite the Russian propaganda claims, Russia is not invincible. "The Kremlin can be stopped and even beaten – we just forgot about it.

Ronald Reagan used to say his strategy vis-à-vis Soviet Union was simple if not simplistic: ‘We win, and they lose.’ I like this approach," Sikorski said.

In order to win, the West, according to Sikorski, needs "to re-learn how to champion the escalation game".

"For example, we could be seizing all 300 billion euros of Russian sovereign assets. Putin has already written them off, he does not expect to get them back. But he also doesn’t think we have the fortitude to take hold of them either. So far, we have proven him right," he said.

He added that Putin regretted the fall of the Soviet Union and "decided to have a re-match", challenging "our values, our security and our way of life".

"Our job is to prevent wider conflict, but also to prevail. Together, as part of an international alliance of democracies, we can do it," Sikorski said.

He warned that if Russia wins, chronic instability will spread not only across Europe but the entire world, fuelling the global coalition of autocracies.

Background:

• On 21 June, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski poked at Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s fears of "Russia’s loss of statehood" in the event of a defeat in Ukraine.
• In April, Sikorski said Putin could end the war he started in Ukraine "in five minutes" if he wanted to.

Support UP or become our patron!