WARSAW: Poland said on Wednesday it would close the last Russian consulate in its territory and urged EU allies to restrict Russian diplomats in the bloc’s Schengen free-travel area in response to a railway explosion it blames on Moscow.
Poland, a major ally in Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invasion, says two Ukrainians collaborating with Moscow perpetrated the weekend blast on the Warsaw-Lublin line, which connects Warsaw to the Ukrainian border.
The pair fled to Belarus, an ally of Russia, Warsaw says.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said at a news conference that the first response would be to close Russia’s last operating consulate in the northern city of Gdansk. Warsaw has previously closed Russian consulates in Krakow and Poznan over sabotage acts.
“It was not only an act of sabotage but also an act of state terrorism,” Sikorski earlier told lawmakers of the railway attack, saying a non-diplomatic response would be coming too. Moscow denies responsibility for sabotage, citing “Russophobia” in Poland, and said it would likewise limit Poland’s diplomatic and consular presence in Russia.
Sikorski also told reporters he would ask other EU nations to limit Russian diplomats’ travel in the 25-nation Schengen area, warning “this is not the end” of Poland’s response.
“We encourage our allies in the European Union to prevent Russians from enjoying the benefits of the Schengen countries, which they are trying to destroy, among other things, by pushing migrants across the border,” Sikorski said.
Poland and its European Union allies accuse Minsk and Moscow of orchestrating a migrant crisis on its border with Belarus.
Jacek Dobrzynski, spokesperson for Poland’s minister in charge of intelligence services, said that in addition to the two suspects who had fled, several other people had been detained over the railway blast, but he did not give more details.
There has been a wave of arson, sabotage and cyberattacks in Poland and other European nations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.
Poland to close Russian consulate after railway sabotage, urges EU action
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Poland to close Russian consulate after railway sabotage, urges EU action
- Sikorski also told reporters he would ask other EU nations to limit Russian diplomats’ travel in the 25-nation Schengen area
- Poland and its European Union allies accuse Minsk and Moscow of orchestrating a migrant crisis
Ukraine’s Zelensky says allies to provide new energy and military aid within 10 days
- Kyiv is aiming to rally support among partners as it struggles to fend off Russian battlefield advances and air attacks
KYIV: Ukraine has agreed new energy and military support packages with European allies ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday.
Kyiv is aiming to rally support among partners as it struggles to fend off Russian battlefield advances and air attacks on its energy system while under US pressure to negotiate peace.
“In Munich, we agreed with the leaders of the Berlin Format on specific packages of energy and military aid for Ukraine by February 24,” Zelensky wrote on X.
Zelensky said on Friday after a meeting of the so-called Berlin Format of about a dozen European leaders in Munich that he had hoped for new support, including air-defense missiles.
“I am grateful to our partners for their readiness to help, and we count on all deliveries arriving promptly,” he added.
Russian attacks on major cities such as Kyiv have battered Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, plunging millions of residents into power outages of varying periods in freezing cold weather.
Zelensky added that Russia had launched around 1,300 attack drones, 1,200 guided aerial bombs and dozens of ballistic missiles at Ukraine over the past week alone.
