Polish foreign minister believes that Putin must earn a meeting with Trump

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has stated that a meeting between Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump would give the Russian leader a misleading sense of importance, and that he must earn it first.

As quoted by RMF24, Sikorski welcomed the fact that President Trump is demanding that Russian leader Putin change his stance, rather than asking Ukraine to do so. 

The minister emphasised that the US president is the leader of the free world, while Putin is an outcast and a war criminal, accused of abducting Ukrainian children.

"I would suggest that Putin has to earn the summit. If he gets it early, it will elevate his status beyond his significance and give him the wrong idea about the trajectory of this," he said.

Sikorski also expressed confidence that Ukraine will still be able to continue its fight against Russia in 2025, noting that Russia is in a bad position due to its declining economy.

"President Trump has started well by recognising that it is Putin who has to shift his position, not Ukraine. […] If I can make one suggestion to the new administration, coming from the depth of experience of a country that warned the rest of the West about Putin and was not always listened to, it’s this: this is not the Putin that President Trump knew in his first term."

During the event, Polish President Andrzej Duda emphasised that the goal should be to make Putin "beg Ukraine and its allies to sit down at the negotiating table".

On 22 January, US President Donald Trump called on Russia to make a "deal" to end the war in Ukraine, warning of intensified sanctions and tariffs against Moscow if no agreement is reached.