Duda Belatedly Confirmed That Zelensky Tried To Manipulate Poland Into War With Russia

To Poland’s credit, it didn’t fall for this trap, which could have sparked a fast-moving sequence of events that might have spiraled into World War III. Russian-friendly observers should therefore recalibrate their assessments of its approach towards the Ukrainian Conflict in light of this.

Former Polish President Andrzej Duda revealed in an interview in early September that Zelensky tried manipulating his country into war with Russia during November 2022’s Przewodow incident after a then-unknown missile crossed the Ukrainian border and smashed into Poland. Duda agreed with his interlocutor that Zelensky’s claim that it was a Russian missile amounted to pressure upon Poland to respond accordingly, yet he also said that he wasn’t surprised by Ukraine wanting to drag NATO into war.

In his words, “They've been trying to drag everyone into the war from the very beginning. It's obvious, it's in their interest, and it would be best if they could drag NATO countries into the war. It's obvious they're looking for those who would actively fight on their side against the Russians. This has been happening since day one.” Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, who’s since fled to Poland, claimed back then that the aforesaid view was a “Russian conspiracy theory” and “Russian propaganda”.

To Poland’s credit, it didn’t fall for this trap, which could have sparked a fast-moving sequence of events that might have spiraled into World War III. Some Russian-friendly observers like Scott Ritter saw things differently at the time, however, believing that it was Poland which sought to drag NATO into war. It’s now known that this wasn’t the case, yet the false assumptions about Poland’s intentions at the time still influence some folks’ takes about its current and future policies. Here are five background briefings:

* 16 November 2022: “Ukraine Tried To Trick NATO Into Starting World War III After It Accidentally Bombed Poland”

* 16 November 2022: “Kiev Jumped The Shark After Its Foreign Minister Implied That Biden Is A Russian Propagandist”

* 16 November 2022: “Ukraine Betrayed Poland’s Trust With Its Dangerous Anti-Russian Conspiracy Theory”

* 16 November 2022: “The Top Five Implications Drawn From Ukraine Accidentally Bombing Poland”

* 23 November 2022: “Korybko To Ritter: New Evidence Compels You To Correct Your Conclusion About Poland”

There are five primary takeaways from Duda’s revelation: 1) Ukraine has been desperately attempting “since day one” to turn the special operation into a hot NATO-Russian war; 2) to that end, it’s relied on weaponized conspiracy theories such as its one about the Przewodow incident and provocations like its regular attacks against the Zaporozhyne Nuclear Power Plant; 3) Poland, NATO, and Russia have been aware of this the whole time though; 4) so none of them fell for these traps; but 5) the risk still remains.

All of this is relevant as regards the Alt-Media Community’s perception of Poland. While many might still dislike its overall foreign policy and dismantlement of Red Army monuments, it’s important to be fair in their assessments of its approach towards the Ukrainian Conflict. Poland indisputably sought to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, ergo why it helped sabotage spring 2022’s draft peace treaty and then donated its entire stockpile to Ukraine, but it never planned to get directly involved if that failed.

Duda’s successor Karol Nawrocki, who per the Polish Constitution formulates the country’s foreign policy in cooperation with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, pledged ahead of the second round not to authorize the deployment of Polish troops to Ukraine. He isn’t expected to go against his word amidst Poles getting fed up with Ukrainian refugees and this neighboring conflict. The most important takeaway from Duda’s revelation is therefore that Poland won’t be manipulated by Zelensky into war with Russia.