Kremlin Warns Poland Over Becoming ‘NATO’s Front Line’

The Kremlin has warned Poland over its increasingly provocative actions and public stance in support of Ukraine, saying these things are turning the country into ‘NATO’s front line’ – according to new statements by Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. He suggested this is “dangerous” even for broader European security, in what appears a veiled threat. 

“Polish propaganda is accustomed to pinning all problems on Russia, in this sense it is similar to that of the Baltics and Ukraine,” he told the Solovyov Live show, in statements later translated by state media. “On Polish television, without a twinge of conscience, they have displayed a map of the partition of Ukraine… Its clear that this cannot be done legally. But Warsaw has a long-tried method of justifying its unseemly actions by skillfully using anti-Russian rhetoric,” Medvedev said.

Medvedev for more than the past week has leveled consistent criticism that Washington is a “puppeteer” behind modern Poland. 

Earlier in the month The Washington Examiner related Medvedev’s words as posted in an essay to social media channels as follows:

The essay, posted on Medvedev’s Telegram channel, claimed that Poland and Russia have a long and “common history” that destines them to work together but that the Poles had been led astray by the U.S., “their puppeteers from across the ocean with clear signs of senile insanity.”

This had been followed by Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergei Andreev just days ago saying it’s a possibility that Moscow might be forced to shutter its embassy in Warsaw in response to Polish authorities moving to expel 45 Russian diplomats who stand accused of spying, or are at least under suspicion, with the Ukraine war ongoing. 

In particular Medvedev’s newest comments take aim at Poland’s reneging on crucial gas contracts…

“In 2020, Warsaw imported up to 10 billion cubic meters of Russian gas, but now it intends to abandon previous contracts. The volume of gas supplies from Russia to Poland this year has already decreased by 13% compared to last year,” Medvedev  explained. “Reverse supplies of the same Russian gas have been proposed as a replacement from Germany, as well as imports of LNG from Qatar, Norway and the United States. Economic benefits have fallen victim to bad political decisions.”

He identified Poland as among those leading the charge to shut down the Nord Stream 2 natural gas Russia to Germany transit project, but that ultimately blowback will come on the Poles for such ‘bad’ decision-making.

“It won’t likely come to a diplomatic breakdown. We may be forced to close our embassy here for a while. Of course, the Poles would have to close theirs in Moscow,” he said in the interview.