The war between Russia and Ukraine must come to an end, and that means there can be no "frozen conflict" between the two nations, Polish President Andrzej Duda told Newsmax during an exclusive interview this week.
"When Russia made an aggression against Ukraine without any justification, without any reason, it just violated international law," Duda, who was in the United States to speak before the United Nations General Assembly, commented to Newsmax's Rita Cosby through a translator.
"That is why I'm saying we cannot imagine, from the Polish perspective, being a neighbor of Ukraine. But also, on the other hand, as a member of the U.N., we cannot imagine a situation where behind our eastern border there would be a frozen conflict, because that means a constant war," he added.
And that would also mean a constant "violation of international law," Duda said.
"Russian troops have to be pushed out or they have to withdraw from those territories to make sure that Ukraine regains control over its internationally recognized borders, and only that situation will mean that the primacy of international law is restored," he said.
Ukraine also deserves reparations and compensation for war crimes and damages, the president said.
"But first and foremost, Ukraine needs to regain control over its internationally recognized territories and borders," he said.
Meanwhile, an attempt for Russia to dominate Europe would mean an attempt to push American strategic interests out, and the United States should never let that happen.
"We are standing with the United States, and we believe that the United States will not accept it," he said.
Meanwhile, Poland is leading the way with its NATO spending, contributing 4.3% of its gross domestic product this year and 4.7% next, and Duda said it's important to continue.
"We've got the only highway from Western Europe to Ukraine," he said. "We have got the railways. And also we've got the closest international airport closest to the border with Ukraine. Hence, we expect that the United States, the allies, will treat us seriously from the perspective of security."
Meanwhile, Duda noted that from the Polish perspective, "it was a very good time" for his nation when former President Donald Trump was in office, as it was a time of relative peace in the world.
"Thanks to the wise policy of President Donald Trump, more American troops arrived to Poland and our part of Europe," he said. "We also signed very important contracts for the purchase of armaments in the United States."
Meanwhile, Europe knows how important transatlantic cooperation is between Europe and the United States, said Duda.
"America has so far three times saved Europe from horrible misfortune," Duda said. "During the First World War, it was only when the U.S. joined the war, it was brought to an end. The Americans intervened for the second time, also in Europe during the Second World War and again on European soil. Hundreds of thousands of graves of American soldiers are there because they liberated Europe. They returned peace to Europe."
And the third time was during the Cold War, when the "wise tough policy of President Ronald Reagan" was able to "financially" end the Soviet Union without shots being fired.
"America won every single time, and European leaders know perfectly well that nobody can take this role away from America," he said. "They know very well how dangerous the situation that would be if America withdrew from Europe."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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