Russia plans to capture one-third of Ukraine, says Poland's premier

WARSAW

Russia plans to capture one-third of Ukraine quite soon to strengthen its position on negotiating table, Poland’s prime minister claimed on Thursday.

In a televised interview on CNN International, Premier Mateusz Morawiecki said: "I see the Russian troops are regrouping, reorganizing. I think they will try to surround Ukrainian forces quite soon in the Donbas region in particular. And then having captured one-third of the land of Ukraine, they will want to probably negotiate from this very very strong position."

Morawiecki said that Russia is fearful of long-term sanctions, and the war can be stopped "through imposing a real crushing set of sanctions, overwhelming sanctions because this is the only thing with which Russia counts."

Poland is doing everything to stop the purchase of Russian oil and natural gas, he added.

"It is so wrong that a big country in the third decade of the 21st century can swallow a smaller country only because the bigger country wants to take all resources from the smaller country. This is happening before our eyes," he said.

The Polish prime minister also added that Russia is prepared for the war for the next couple of months, adding he is not sure if the European Union and NATO are as well prepared.

"We cannot allow Russia to commit all those war crimes in Ukraine," he added.

The Russian war against Ukraine, which started on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the EU, US, and Britain, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,232 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 1,935 injured, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be far higher.

More than 4 million Ukrainians have also fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.