Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has issued a warning following reports of secret talks involving US and Russian figures over a potential deal that could pressure Ukraine into ceding territory.
Speaking to Polish news channel TVN24, Sikorski compared the reported back-channel discussions to the controversial Nord Stream pipeline project, calling them “like Nord Stream, but times a hundred.”
Russia and Germany built the gas pipeline, which bypassed countries such as Poland and Ukraine, depriving them of transit fees and increasing Moscow's regional leverage.
Widely labelled by Moscow and Western governments as sabotage, the September 2022 Nord Stream explosions crippled the pipelines, cutting off most Russian gas flows to Europe.
In November 2023, an international investigation identified Colonel Roman Chervinsky, a former commander in Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces, as the primary coordinator of the Nord Stream sabotage.
‘Plan to revive Russian economy’
His comments came after The Wall Street Journal revealed that US special envoy Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev had explored a plan that would revive Russia’s economy by steering major US corporate contracts in rare earth minerals and energy towards Russia.
According to the report, the talks included scenarios in which Ukraine could be pushed to surrender territory in exchange for vast US business opportunities.
Sikorski said Poland would neither participate in nor endorse any arrangement that trades Ukrainian land for corporate gain, warning that the situation poses risks for Europe.
“We now have such a disturbing confluence of events,” he said.
He added that it is unclear whether Washington will pursue a rapid agreement at Kiev’s expense, but noted:
“Something is afoot because there are serious people involved there.”
Sikorski also stressed that the plan may not reflect the official stance of the US administration and that “not everyone would be content with it.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also criticised the reported proposals, telling the WSJ:
“We know this isn't about peace. This is about business.”
