Radoslaw Sikorski at centre of storm over Ukraine comments

A diplomatic storm sparked by Poland’s former foreign minister has cast into confusion Warsaw’s approach to the crisis in Ukraine, just as the country’s new government shows signs of shifting to a less active role in the seven-month long conflict.

Radoslaw Sikorski, who was replaced after almost seven years as foreign minister last month, was quoted this week saying that Russian president Vladimir Putin had in 2008 suggested to former Polish prime minister Donald Tusk that the two countries could divide Ukraine’s territory between them.

The statement, which raised questions about Poland’s subsequent foreign policy, was followed by a muddled denial and a full retraction the next day, sparking bewilderment, shock and criticism from across Poland’s political spectrum.

“I will not tolerate this kind of behaviour,” said Ewa Kopacz, Poland’s new prime minister, after Mr Sikorski, now speaker of the country’s parliament, dodged questions on the issue from journalists at a press conference on Tuesday.

Although Mr Sikorski is keeping his job as Speaker, his effective political defenestration has tarnished the diplomatic credentials of one of the most prominent EU voices arguing for a strong response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, and comes amid suggestions that Warsaw’s once hawkish stance towards the conflict in the east of the country is softening.

Under Mr Sikorski’s tenure at the foreign ministry, Poland had been a key player in the diplomatic manoeuvrings over the future of Ukraine.

The country was a key sponsor of the Eastern Partnership initiative, which sought to deepen ties between Ukraine and the EU, and was part of initial negotiations between Kiev and Moscow after hostilities broke out following the invasion of Crimea.

Poland, however, was excluded from the talks in the summer, when Germany and France decided to shift to four-party talks, including the EU, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Russia and Ukraine.

The new government of Ms Kopacz has become reconciled to a more “pragmatic” position over Ukraine, two senior government officials told the Financial Times.

“It seems obvious [Poland] will be less active on this issue,” said one of the officials, who declined to be identified, as they are not permitted to speak to the media. “Things are calmer now,” the official added, explaining that Warsaw was resigned to the fact that there was little chance for them to change the situation on the ground.

Ms Kopacz, a former health minister, is heavily focused on domestic issues and the three national elections that will be fought over the next 12 months, as she aims to lead her Civic Platform party to a third consecutive general election victory.

Mr Sikorski, who was once the frontrunner to become the EU’s foreign policy chief, was quoted by Politico magazine on Monday describing a private meeting between Mr Putin and Mr Tusk in Moscow in 2008. “[Putin] wanted us to become participants in the partition of Ukraine,” Mr Sikorski was quoted as saying. “He went on to say Ukraine is an artificial country and that Lviv is a Polish city . . . Luckily Tusk didn’t answer. He knew he was being recorded.”

On Tuesday, after first suggesting that he had been misinterpreted, Mr Sikorski declared “my memory had failed me” and stated that there was no private Moscow meeting. Statements published after the official diplomatic visit are not clear on whether such a meeting took place.

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Crisis in Ukraine

Pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine have escalated the political turmoil that threatens to tear the country apart

Further reading

Mr Sikorski’s comments over Russian attempts to involve other countries in a carving up of Ukraine were not the first time that the issue has been raised.

At a Nato summit in Bucharest in 2008, Mr Putin told then US president George W Bush that Ukraine was “not even a country” but a territory comprised of Russian and eastern European land. This March, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, deputy speaker of the Russian parliament, suggested that European nations could join Russia in dividing up the country.

But what made Mr Sikorski’s remarks so explosive in Poland, which has suffered from geographical division by conspiring foreign powers multiple times in the past, was that they raised questions over what action was taken following the alleged discussion.

Political analysts and commentators in Warsaw were quick to jump on the reported offer, asking whether they should have forced a rethink of Poland’s policy of rapprochement with Moscow in the years between Mr Putin’s alleged suggestion in 2008 and this year’s subsequent annexation of Crimea.

The controversy “should be a warning to all Polish politicians”, said Bronislaw Komorowski, Poland’s president.

“Where it comes to security policy, you should restrain the desire to quickly exploit issues that are observed during a career,” Mr Komorowksi added, suggesting that there was a time for political work, and a time to write memoirs.