Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to invade other countries following his decision to start the conflict in Ukraine, Polish President Karol Nawrocki said on Tuesday, September 9. "We do not trust Vladimir Putin's good intentions," Nawrocki told reporters at a press conference, held together with Finnish President Alexander Stubb in Helsinki. Poland and Finland share borders with Russia, and both NATO members were put on edge by Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
"While waiting, of course, for a long-term peace, permanent peace, which is necessary to our regions, we believe that Vladimir Putin is ready to also invade other countries," Poland's newly elected nationalist president said. "That is exactly why we are developing our armed forces, we are developing our partnership and our allied relations," he added, without specifying any particular measures.
He said the "security architecture" throughout the region had changed and that United States President Donald Trump was "the only leader of the free world" who could force Putin to negotiate. Last week, Trump offered to send more troops to Poland as he welcomed Nawrocki to the White House with a military flyover.
Stubb, meanwhile, has spoken to Trump regularly in recent months as European powers push to end the war in Ukraine. "We try to explain that Putin cannot be trusted, that Putin is playing his usual delay tactics," Stubb said.
The warnings reflected similar worries expressed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said on Monday that Putin's "imperialist plan wouldn't end with the conquest of Ukraine," rather, it would just be the start.
On Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the closure of the border with Belarus in response to upcoming joint Russian-Belarusian war games. "For national security reasons, we will close the border with Belarus, including railway crossings, in connection with the Zapad manoeuvres on Thursday at midnight," Tusk told reporters.
Belarus, a former Soviet republic, is a key Russian ally, with Moscow using Belarusian territory to launch its offensive against Ukraine in February 2022. The Zapad-2025 (West-2025) drills are set to take place from September 12 to 16. Minsk previously stated in August that the Zapad drills would involve Oreshnik missile and nuclear strike training.
According to the Polish premier, the Zapad war games are designed to stimulate the occupation of the "Suwalki Corridor", which stretches along the border between Poland and Lithuania, flanked by Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. The corridor is often considered a "fragile spot" for NATO and could potentially be the first target of a hypothetical Russian attack.
In response to the joint drills, Polish and allied forces will hold their own military exercises in Poland, Tusk added. An estimated 30,000 soldiers are expected to take part.