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EU divided over scale of sanctions on Russia, Polish PM says

All EU member states agree that Ukraine needs to maintain its sovereignty, Mateusz Morawiecki noted
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki  EPA-EFE/Leszek Szymanski
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki
© EPA-EFE/Leszek Szymanski

MADRID, January 29. /TASS/. European Union members are divided over the scale of sanctions that could be imposed on Russia in the event of an attack on Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview with Spain’s El Mundo newspaper.

"All EU member states agree that Ukraine needs to maintain its sovereignty," he pointed out. "Disagreements concern the scale of sanctions on Russia and military assistance to Ukraine, which should be agreed by the union or NATO," he specified.

"I don’t expect Germany to get involved in the conflict since it is the new government’s decision but if they refuse to assist Ukraine, I will ask them to say it out loud," Morawiecki stressed. "Evasive statements such as ‘we will not send weapons to Ukraine because it is a conflict zone’ don’t indicate a serious policy under the current circumstances," he added.

The West and Kiev have recently been echoing allegations about Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded", serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such claims and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.