Polish leaders plan to form a coalition under the guise of NATO and intervene in the conflict in Ukraine in order to seize land and return, as they believe, their "historical territories," Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
"As for the Polish leaders, they probably expect to form a coalition within NATO... and directly intervene in the conflict in Ukraine in order to then 'tear off' a fatter piece [of land] for themselves, to regain, as they believe, their historical territories – today's Western Ukraine," Putin said at a meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council.
The union between Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, the reports on which appear in the media, is being made for the subsequent occupation of Ukraine, Putin emphasized.
"There have been media reports about plans to create a certain so-called Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian union: that is, we are not talking about some gathering of mercenaries, there are enough of them, and they are being destroyed, namely a regular, assembled, equipped military unit that is planned to be used for actions on the territory of Ukraine, including for allegedly ensuring the security of the current Western Ukraine. And in fact, if you call things by their proper names — for the subsequent occupation of these territories," Putin said at a meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council.
In April 2022, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin has said that the United States and Poland are planning to establish Warsaw's military and political control over "its historical territories" in Ukraine. Eventhough the Stanislaw Zaryn, the spokesman for Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski has denied this information, soon after Naryshkin made the statement, the Polish authorities announced major military drills and large-scale relocation of the military in the northern and eastern parts of the country.
Later in Novermber, Sergey Naryshkin said that Polish special services "leaked" information to the Ukrainian media about the alleged preparation in the Lvov region of Ukraine of a referendum on the topic of joining Poland.
Former President Viktor Yanukovych also said that Ukraine’s statehood is under threat and it may be forced to merge with Poland.
"No matter how painful it is for me to write about this today, but the statehood of Ukraine is in extreme danger. It is threatened with complete destruction. At the same time, we are talking not only about the risk of losing vast territories in the south and east of the country," Yanukovych said in May 2022, adding that Ukraine "may be forced" to de-facto merge with Poland.