Poland ready to stop importing Russian hydrocarbons: Senior Polish diplomat

Poland’s deputy foreign minister has urged European countries to stop importing hydrocarbons from Russia amid its war with Ukraine.

“Poland is convinced that we should stop importing Russian hydrocarbons, as they are the main source of revenue for the Russian state budget and thus finance the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek told Anadolu Agency during his official visit to Turkiye.

During his visit last week, Szynkowski vel Sek held political consultations with his Turkish counterpart Faruk Kaymakci to discuss bilateral ties, regional developments and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“We are ready to do this, and we are persuading our European partners to take such a step. We welcome the fact that the EU is cooperating with the US with an aim to decouple from Russian energy commodities. We wish it would happen as soon as possible,” he said.

The senior diplomat said that Poland has already undertaken action to reduce its dependency on Russian energy commodities.

“As our contract with Gazprom on gas supplies expires this year, Poland will not have any commitments towards Russia in this matter. We are already implementing our strategy of diversifying gas supplies,” he noted.

Poland has constructed a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and has further plans of developing its LNG regasification infrastructure, he said.

“We are also looking forward to the Baltic Pipe (the pipeline joining Poland with Norway via Denmark), which will be in operation at the end of this year,” said Szynkowski vel Sek.

Stressing that these projects will ensure Poland’s gas independence from Russia, the Polish diplomat said the country is ready to end definitively imports of Russian oil, petroleum products and coal.

“Our biggest oil company, Orlen, has already initiated cooperation with other suppliers, which will help us to shift the sources of oil supply. Our seaport in Gdansk is ready to replace the Druzhba pipeline,” he said.

- Turkiye’s ‘very significant’ role in current crisis in Ukraine

Describing Turkiye as a “staunch ally and a friend of Poland,” Szynkowski vel Sek said ties between the two nations have reached an unprecedented intensiveness, including at the presidential level.

He hailed Turkiye’s role in the ongoing Ukraine crisis as “very significant.”

“Turkiye’s support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine as well as the mediation efforts being undertaken at various levels to achieve a cease-fire, create humanitarian corridors and, ultimately, end the conflict are facts that cannot be underestimated. Frankly speaking, bringing the representatives of Russia and Ukraine to meet in Antalya and Istanbul is an undoubted success of Turkish diplomacy,” he said.

Szynkowski vel Sek also thanked Turkiye for its decision to close the straits to all Russian warships and its participation in the delivery of humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

- 60%-70% of Ukrainians who found refuge in Poland want to stay

Underlining that according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 12 million people have been affected by the war in Ukraine, Szynkowski vel Sek said Russia’s aggression led to the biggest humanitarian crisis on the continent in the post-World War II period.

According to estimates, 60%-70% of the Ukrainians who have found refuge in Poland want to stay in the country, said the Polish diplomat, adding the vast majority of Ukrainian refugees are women and children.

“We recognize the fact that the next waves of refugees will reach our country. People who come will require multidimensional support for a long time. Poland, in cooperation with the international community, will support Ukrainian refugees as long as it will be needed,” he said.

He also stressed the need to prepare for long-term actions both in terms of assistance for refugees in Poland and in other countries of the region, as well as for all those millions of people who remain in Ukraine.

-Europe's refugee double standard

Szynkowski vel Sek also responded to criticism about Poland not opening its borders to immigrants at the Belarus border and Syrians seeking refuge in the country.

“The migration crisis at the EU’s eastern external borders related to the migrants from Belarus was artificially created by Belarusian and Russian authorities with the aim to destabilize the situation of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and the entire EU,” he said.

He said Poland’s obligation as a front state of the EU is to restore stability and security at the borders.

“As far as refugees from Syria are concerned, we were the first to provide assistance to them at their place of temporary residence in line with our on-site assistance policy,” he said.

“In the years 2016-2024, the EU’s estimated support for Syrian refugees in Turkiye and other countries amounts to 9 billion euros,” he added.

- Reinforcement of NATO’s eastern flank

Commenting on the move by NATO and the US to deploy more troops to eastern and central European states, Szynkowski vel Sek said about 12,000 troops from the US and various NATO members are deployed to Poland as of now.

“We hope it will become a permanent reinforcement of NATO’s eastern flank. We need to enhance it and establish a sufficiently capable defense of the Alliance at its eastern border. We are ready to cooperate to that effect, on concrete proposals, with all NATO Allies,” he said.

Underlining that Turkiye’s role in the Black Sea region is “crucial,” the senior official said Poland wants to continue close cooperation with Turkiye on all aspects of NATO’s defense and deterrence posture.

- Poland’s expectations from NATO, EU regarding war in Ukraine

On the validity of NATO and the transatlantic link in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Szynkowski vel Sek said “NATO is responding with speed and unity. All Allies confirmed that commitments stemming from NATO’s Washington Treaty and its Article 5 are ironclad.”

He said NATO countries continue intense work at all levels, including that of heads of state, to strengthen the alliance’s deterrence and defense.

“We have activated our defense plans to shield the Alliance, increased our readiness and deployed troops from both sides of the Atlantic,” he said, adding there are now hundreds of thousands of forces at heightened alert.

“Around 40,000 troops are under direct NATO command. For the first time, the NATO Response Force has been deployed,” he noted.

Szynkowski vel Sek recalled the EU’s decision to introduce an unprecedented package of restrictive measures against Russia, adding the EU enlargement process is fundamental for the future of European security.

“It is crucial that Ukraine's application for EU membership receives a positive opinion from the European Commission and, subsequently, from EU member states,” he added.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara