The American and Western European elites have ignored Putin’s warnings since 2007, reassuring themselves that they were acting for domestic political purposes and that Putin should not be annoyed or provoked. And they ignored the warnings of Poland and other Central European countries.
Even after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the start of the war with Ukraine in 2014, more thought was given to how to convince Putin to cool down rather how to strengthen Ukraine’s defense in its right to determine its future – said Eugeniusz Smolar, expert and Member of the Board at the Centre For International Relations.
Read more in the article Judy Asks: Are Europeans Ready to Pay the Price for Ukraine’s Sovereignty?
![“For Poland, the future of Ukraine was and is of paramount importance. For the United States and Western European countries, it is decidedly secondary” – said Eugeniusz Smolar, Senior Fellow and Member of the Board at the Centre For International Relations [24.03.2022]](https://csm.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Trends-and-future-of-China_08.03.2022-300x169.png)
![“For Poland, the future of Ukraine was and is of paramount importance. For the United States and Western European countries, it is decidedly secondary” – said Eugeniusz Smolar, Senior Fellow and Member of the Board at the Centre For International Relations [24.03.2022]](https://csm.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/MB-dla-arabskiej-2-300x169.png)