The Polish Prime Minister held a press conference on Monday in which he swiped at President Macron for continuing to attempt negotiations with Putin despite the emerging reports of genocide and war crimes committed at the order of the Russian President. As Ukraine regained territory from retreating Russian forces, they discovered mass graves and execution-style killings of civilians.
President Zelensky spoke to CBS News and declared that Russian forces had committed “genocide” and that Ukraine is facing “elimination”.
Poland has taken in the largest amount of Ukrainian refugees in the EU, with numbers estimated at over 2.3 million flooding into Poland out of the 3.8 million who fled the war-torn nation.
Mr Morawiecki said: “Mr President Macron, how many times have you negotiated with Putin, what have you achieved? Have you stopped any of the actions that have taken place?
“One should not negotiate with criminals; one should fight them…nobody negotiated with Hitler. Would you negotiate with Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot?”
A French official spoke on behalf of the French President stating: “From the onset, the President has used all available means to make Putin stop the war: massive sanctions, support to Ukraine, demands made directly to President Putin during their calls.”
Since the start of the year, there have been 16 phone calls between the two Presidents which supposedly kept an open channel of communication and would allow the West to assess Putin’s state of mind.
Both France and Germany confirmed they would expel Russian diplomats in further efforts to punish and deter Russia.
The Polish Prime Minister was baffled by his French counterpart’s continued enthusiasm for negotiation with Putin, despite rising calls for an investigation into war crimes.
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Germany continues to be heavily reliant on Russian oil and gas and so are struggling to protect their own economy and infrastructure and condemn the actions of Russia.
Mr Morawiecki concluded: “These bloody massacres committed by Russians, by Russia soldiers, deserve to be called what they are. This is genocide and it must be judged.”
The Kremlin has denied that the atrocities were committed by Russian forces.