Polish Foreign Minister: «The country that could put Putin in his place is China»

Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski believes that China is a country that can «put Russian President Vladimir Putin in his place» and help end the war in Ukraine.

He said this in an interview with Tagesspiegel.

«The country that could end the war and put Putin in his place is China», Radoslaw Sikorski said.

According to him, Russia is currently China's economic vassal, and if China threatened a trade embargo, Russia would be forced to comply.

«However, this is unlikely at the moment», added Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.

He also commented on the talks between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul, noting that Turkey «is playing a very clever game» — it supplies Ukraine with arms, but at the same time receives millions of tourists from Russia.

«We all didn't want to spend so much on defence — Putin is forcing us to do it... Putin is serious about his intention to take over all of Ukraine. He is still convinced that he can win», said Sikorsky.

Russia and Ukraine's talks in Turkey

On 11 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his desire to resume direct talks with Ukraine, which were suspended at the end of 2022. He also said that he planned to address Turkish President Recep Erdogan with a proposal to organise the talks.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal for direct talks, calling it a «good sign». However, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that a ceasefire was needed first to really start a dialogue with Russia. He later stressed that he was looking forward to direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Turkey.

In addition, Turkish President Recep Erdogan accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to hold talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul on 15 May.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that he had no information on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend the talks. At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of his own participation in the event.

Late in the evening of 14 May, the Kremlin approved the official list of Russian representatives to participate in peace talks with Ukraine, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is not among the delegates.

On the day of the talks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian delegation had arrived in Ankara in full force and was ready for real solutions to achieve a just peace. The composition of the Russian delegation is still unknown and, according to the head of state, resembles «a prop level».

After the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the negotiation process with Russia, saying that Ukraine was ready to take all steps to end the war and urged Vladimir Putin to give the Russian delegation decision-making powers.

Later, it became known that Ukraine and Russia discussed a ceasefire and the exchange of prisoners of war in the format of «thousand for thousand» during the talks in Istanbul.

However, the Ukrainian and Russian sides agreed to meet again during the talks in Istanbul on 16 May.