Former Polish President Duda: Kyiv Wanted NATO to Fight Shoulder-to-Shoulder Against Russia

Former Polish President Andrzej Duda revealed in an interview that Ukraine attempted to involve Poland in the war against Russia from the very start. His comments came during a discussion about the missile incident in Lublin Voivodeship in the autumn of 2022.

Zelensky Pressured Poland After Missile Incident

When asked whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had pressured Poland at the time to immediately declare that the missile was Russian, Duda replied:

“You could say that.”

‘Obviously, It Was in Their Interest’

Duda explained that he was not surprised by such pressure from Kyiv, stressing that Ukraine’s leadership had clear motives.

“Obviously, it was in their interest. And for them, the best possible outcome would have been to draw NATO countries into the war. This has been the case from day one…”

Ukraine’s Dream: NATO Shoulder-to-Shoulder

According to the former Polish president, Ukraine’s leaders hoped for NATO to enter the conflict directly.

“The dream of leaders in Ukraine’s position is for NATO to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them—for their army to instantly receive NATO’s support: tanks, soldiers with equipment, fighting alongside them against Russia. Anyone in their place would dream of that—we would too if it were us. But as Poland, a NATO member state, we could not agree to it.”