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Polish ex-minister quoted saying Putin offered to divide Ukraine
Poland's parliamentary speaker, Radoslaw Sikorski, was quoted as saying that Vladimir Putin proposed to Poland's then leader in 2008 that they divide Ukraine between themselves.Sikorski, who until September served as Poland's foreign minister, was quoted saying that Putin made the proposal during Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's visit to Moscow in 2008 - although he later said some of the interview had been "overinterpreted". Sikorski said, "He wanted us to become participants in this partition of Ukraine ... This was one of the first things that Putin said to my prime minister, Donald Tusk, when he visited Moscow. He (Putin) went on to say Ukraine is an artificial country and that Lwow is a Polish city and why don't we just sort it out together." Sikorski, who accompanied Tusk on his trip to Moscow, was quoted as saying Tusk did not reply to Putin's suggestion, because he knew he was being recorded, but Poland never expressed any interest in joining the Russian operation. Sikorski was quoted as saying, "We made it very, very clear to them - we wanted nothing to do with this." After publication of the interview, Sikorski said it was not entirely accurate. "Some of the words have been overinterpreted," Sikorski wrote on his Twitter account late on Monday, adding that Poland does not take part in annexations. Posted by: ryuge 2014-10-21 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=402426 |