24 February 2022

Last night, the Russian Federation, which has occupied the Ukrainian territories of Crimea and parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions since 2014, committed one of the gravest crimes known to mankind: a crime against peace and a crime of aggression against Ukraine. Thus, we are witnessing a war in Europe: a war between Poland’s two neighbours, one of them being the executioner and the other one being the victim.

In his late-night speech, Vladimir Putin once again denied the Ukrainian people, to whom Poles are bound by friendship and several centuries of common history, the right to self-determination and  to an independent foreign and domestic policy. The Russian Federation has embarked on the path that was taken 83 years ago by Germany ruled by Adolf Hitler and the Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin.

The Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding, a Polish public institution, established with a view to conduct dialogue with the Russian society and to inform the public about Russia, condemns this barbarity. We express our solidarity and support to the Ukrainian people and the authorities of Ukraine. We intend to use the tools provided by the Act on the Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding to support Ukraine in its struggle for freedom, integrity and independence.

We emphasise that an essential condition for dialogue with representatives of the Russian people is for them to unequivocally recognise the right of other peoples to sovereignty, territorial integrity and democracy, and to dissociate themselves from the war. We also believe that in order to restore peace, the international community must impose the most severe sanctions on Russia, which will inevitably deliver a very painful blow to all the inhabitants of the Russian Federation.