Polish foreign minister in S'pore to rally support for Ukraine in region

Russian aggression should be seen as attempt to regain former 'colony', he says

- Clement Tan

Two-and-a-half years after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Poland's Foreign Affairs Minister Radek Sikorski's exasperation is unmistakable.

"My frustration is that in some parts of the world, people don't see this Russian aggression for what it is, which is a colonial attempt to regain its... former 'colony"" Mr Sikorski told The Straits Times in an interview on Sept 2, during his first official visit to Singapore in his second stint as his country's chief diplomat.

United Nations member states had voted overwhelmingly to condemn Russia in the immediate aftermath of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, deepening the support for Ukraine has proven a tougher sell outside of Europe and North America, as international attention was diverted by the Middle East crisis and intensifying US-China competition.

With their shared history of Russian control, Poland has been among Ukraine's loudest and biggest advocates. If Mr Putin succeeds in Ukraine, the existential fear is that he would go on to invade and retake Poland and other former Soviet territories such as Estonia, Georgia and Latvia.

Mr Sikorski has been drawing sharp parallels between Russian authoritarianism and colonialism, and is taking his message on what he calls “a fact-finding mission" to South-east Asia this week.

In Singapore, his first stop, he spoke about confronting 21stcentury imperialism to an audience of policymakers, academics and diplomats in a lecture organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) on Sept 2.