claims Polish official as he praises UK’s willingness to back Ukraine
A Polish official has slammed the West’s response to the Ukraine war but has praised the UK for its action in supporting military firepower.
He warned that Ukrainians ‘lack sufficient means to win’ due to a lack of missiles and fighter jets.
The MEP from Poland’s governing Law and Justice Pary, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski told Express.co.uk: “The Ukrainians lack sufficient means to win.”
“They are not getting what they should be getting in the fighters and the long-range missiles.”
He added: “They are getting weapons sufficient to survive but not to win.”
His comments come as plans for a Ukraine counter-offensive to claim back territory grabbed by Russia in the bitter war has been halted as concerns grow over weapons shortages amid a hesitancy among some Western powers to supply Kyiv with advanced long-range missiles and fighter planes.
The country’s neighbour to the east, Poland has been a vocal supporter of increased arms shipments to aid the fight back against Vladimir Putin.
Speaking to Express.co.uk in Warsaw, a Polish diplomat warned the Ukrainian military is only being given what is needed to survive but not to deliver a decisive blow on Russia.
When asked why such a policy had been adopted, the MEP remarked bluntly: “Because the West is rotten”, before singling out the UK’s willingness to back Ukraine with much-needed firepower as a welcome exception.
Britain, alongside Poland, is one of the largest suppliers of military aid to Ukraine following Putin’s invasion in 2022 and has begun supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles, handing over the advanced Storm Shadow missile system last month.
Speaking to Express.co.uk at the conference hall at Poland Great Project Congress, he stressed that Ukraine needed Western countries to step up and match the weapons shipments being sent by the UK, urging them to: “Be like the Brits.”
The Polish government has also led military backing for Kyiv becoming the first NATO state to hand over fighter jets when MiG-29 fighters were handed over in March.
The Polish Government is said to have signed off on more than 3 billion Euros on weapons, ammunition and military hardware needed on the frontlines in Ukraine.
Despite the efforts to keep Ukraine’s military supplied, Kyiv is reported to be holding off on a long-awaited counter-offensive as weapons and ammunition stocks are trailing behind the levels needed to take on the Russian forces entrenched in the country’s east.
Dr Ihor Zhovkva, chief foreign affairs adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted that the counter-offensive which had originally been scheduled to start in the Spring will now be postponed until the Summer.
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Dr Zhovka told the Sunday Times: “I’m not a military man, I’m working on the diplomatic front and my task is more weapons, more support, more ammunition.”
“But if you want to start a successful counter-offensive you need everything at your disposal, including artillery, armoured vehicles and tanks, so probably we don’t have enough.”
President Zelensky has travelled widely as part of a diplomatic tour aimed at securing more weapons shipments.
Dr Zhovka noted: “From May 3 to June 2 you calculate the number of countries he visited, it’s huge. More weapons is the No 1 topic in each and every conversation.. Every visit my president makes is about military help, further delivery of weapons.
“Every country knows what kind of weapons we need from them, to protect our territory, stop the rockets.”
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