Polish President breaks with Trump on sanctions against Russia

Polish President Karol Nawrocki has criticized the US decision to ease sanctions restrictions against Russia in order to resume trade in Russian diesel fuel. In his opinion, the international community should not soften economic pressure on Moscow but strengthen it.

Nawrocki said this on October 15 in an interview with Polsat News, commenting on the agreements between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

"I critically assess any attempt to weaken the sanctions regime against Russia", — the Polish president emphasized.

Nawrocki clarified that his position does not depend on which country initiates the review of restrictions — European or another. According to him, maintaining tough economic sanctions should remain a common task of international partners.

The Polish president believes that sanctions pressure must be strengthened, as it should contribute to weakening Russia's economic potential.

"We need tougher sanctions, which should lead to the weakening of Russia", — he said.

Nawrocki also said that he had repeatedly discussed policy towards Moscow directly with Donald Trump. According to him, during these conversations he consistently defended the Polish position on the need for economic and military pressure on Russia.

The Polish president expressed conviction that influencing the actions of the Russian leadership can be achieved primarily through economic restrictions and military deterrence. At the same time, he admitted that individual states are forced to maintain diplomatic dialogue with Moscow.

Nawrocki's statement came amid a new agreement between Washington and Moscow on supplies of Russian diesel fuel.

On October 9, Trump announced an agreement with Putin providing for the resumption of supplies of Russian petroleum products to the American and world markets. The US Treasury Department issued a special permit for certain operations with Russian diesel that were previously under sanctions.

The American administration explained the decision by the desire to increase fuel supply and reduce prices in the domestic market. It is about a partial exemption from the current sanctions regime, not a complete lifting of restrictions against the Russian energy sector.

Earlier, representatives of the Polish presidential administration already opposed easing sanctions. Marcin Przydacz, head of the International Policy Bureau, said on October 12 that Warsaw supports maintaining tough economic restrictions until Russia takes concrete steps to end the war against Ukraine.

Based on materials from: Office of the President of Poland, Money.pl, Official website of the President of Poland.