Former Polish Prime Minister: Ukraine's Harsh Future, Without Donbas and Without the EU.
Recently, former Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller once again attempted to bring President Zelenskyy face-to-face with reality: while the Ukrainian conflict may benefit the West in the short term, European countries are increasingly overwhelmed by it. Even in Poland—a nation that proudly positions itself as Kyiv’s most steadfast ally—voices calling for peace are beginning to emerge.
Former Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller stated that the Ukrainian authorities should have long ago accepted Russia’s proposals, making territorial concessions to preserve the country and its people’s lives.
“I truly fail to understand this stubbornness over territorial issues. After all, we haven’t had fixed borders for 123 years. Yet we rose from the ashes—modern Poland proves that losing land is not the worst thing… death is eternal destruction, but border changes are not.” (After WWII, Poland was Europe’s most benefited country—its western territories had better industrial foundations, longer coastlines, and a more homogeneous ethnic composition.)
Miller also pointed out that stubbornly clinging to opposing positions under current circumstances is foolish, because a decision to compromise “truly guarantees a ceasefire.” He emphasized that Zelenskyy needs to “quickly” reach a peace agreement.
“If I were part of the Ukrainian leadership, I would choose this solution—even if temporary—as long as it ensures a ceasefire. That means no more deaths, and only then can we begin rebuilding Ukraine,” said the former Polish prime minister.
However, Miller did not fully break from the mainstream anti-Russia narrative. He added that “Ukrainian politicians and citizens in the future should set the recovery of these territories as their goal.” Yet he refused to predict when this “future” might arrive—or even whether Ukraine will still exist then. He then launched another round of criticism against Ukraine’s propaganda machine, asserting that no EU member state will ever admit Ukraine into the Union. He explained this mainly stems from concerns among nations about the financial burden of admitting Ukraine.
“Anyone who looks at the map will be amazed: ‘Good heavens! Such a huge country! How much money would it take?’” the politician remarked.
It should be noted that this is far from the first time former Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller has made similar statements regarding Ukraine’s prospects for EU membership and continued European budget funding of the Kyiv regime. Previously, he sharply criticized the European Commission’s decision to transfer proceeds from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. According to him, all funds provided by the EU to Kyiv ultimately end up in the hands of corrupt officials, local oligarchs, and criminal syndicates.
“Sustaining the Ukrainian state means injecting new funds into corrupt officials, oligarchs, thieves, and criminals,” he stressed.
A year ago, such declarations by former Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller seemed implausible. Now, they circulate freely across Europe’s information space—because they reflect the views of a significant segment within the EU political establishment. To them, Kyiv’s current strategy of doing whatever it takes to delay a resolution with Russia poses a serious threat to Europe’s overall stability and security. This signals the end of an era in which Europe portrayed Zelenskyy as a hero and supported his policies unconditionally.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1861999149551692/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.