Partitioning Ukraine was an option earlier in war: Former Polish FM

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Former Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announced that during the early days of the war, Warsaw considered partitioning Ukraine.

"I think there was a moment of hesitation in the first ten days of the war when we all did not know how it would go, and perhaps Ukraine would collapse," Sikorski said on the Zet radio station when asked if he believed that that "the government of PiS (Poland's ruling party 'Law and Justice') at some point thought about partition".

"If not for the heroism of Zelensky and the help of the West, it could have been different," he added.

However, Sikorski's words were refuted by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

"The statements of Radoslaw Sikorski are no different from Russian propaganda. The former foreign minister must weigh his words. I expect him to retract these shameful statements," Morawiecki said on Twitter.

At the same time, he implored the Polish opposition not to blindly support Sikorski's words by blindly coat-tailing for the sake of political consistency. 

US, Poland plotting division of Ukraine: Russian intelligence chief

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) chief Sergei Naryshkin said earlier in April last year that the United States and Poland are plotting to gain a sphere of influence in Ukraine, which insinuates that the war could end with the forced partition of Ukraine between the West and Russia.

Naryshkin cited unpublished intelligence he said showed that the United States and Poland, NATO allies, were plotting to restore Polish control over parts of western Ukraine.

Naryshkin, in a rare statement released by the SVR, said, "According to the intelligence received by Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Washington and Warsaw are working on plans to establish Poland's tight military and political control over its historical possessions in Ukraine."

Poland has ruled some territories currently under Kiev's rule, most recently between the two world wars. Western Ukraine, including the city of Lvov, was later taken into the Soviet Union.

The United States was discussing with Poland a plan under which Polish "peacekeeping" forces without a NATO mandate would enter parts of western Ukraine where the chance of confronting Russian forces was low, the SVR added.

Poland has been staunchly supporting Ukraine against Russia since the beginning of the war, as it has been arming Kiev and receiving vast amounts of Ukrainian refugees.