DISINFO: Poland will demand territorial concessions from Ukraine in exchange for military aid
SUMMARY
Poland may initiate the freezing of financial and military aid to Ukraine in order to force Kyiv to recognise the “Volhynian massacre” as a fact of genocide of the Polish population. In this way, by demanding the recognition of the fact of genocide, Warsaw is creating a legal and historical basis to demand from Kyiv compensation in the form of money and territories. The next step of Warsaw would be a demand for territorial concessions from Kyiv in order to fulfil the dream about the “Republic from the Sea to the Sea”. Poland’s desire to expand its territories is obvious. Warsaw has two options -a military intervention or a legal justification that the Ukrainian territories should be Polish.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about Polish-Ukrainian relations – Poland is traditionally presented as a state with imperial ambitions. The aim of this is clearly to upset Polish-Ukrainian relations and deflect attention away from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The claim also attempts to denigrate the history of Ukraine, Ukrainian statehood and its independence.
This disinformation message has adopted several different and sometimes contradictory forms, including allegations that Poland either wants to create a puppet proxy-state in Western Ukraine or annex these territories or that it is President Zelenskyy who wants to cede this land due to his “Polish origins”.
Poland adheres to international law regarding state borders, fully supports the independence and territorial integrity of neighbouring countries, and it rejects any “imperial” ambitions towards other countries. Poland, as well as the EU and the US, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. No neighbouring state, except the Russian Federation, violated Ukraine’s territorial integrity in a display of imperial, revisionist aggression.
Read more about the Eastern policy of Poland here.
See our in-depth debunk of the claims of Polish historical revisionism.
See other messages accusing Poland of having aggressive anti-Ukrainian plans here.