The Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski issued a direct challenge to the Russian delegation during a UN Security Council session focused on Ukraine this Wednesday, arguing with economic figures that Moscow lacks the capacity to defeat the Atlantic Alliance.
According to the agency EFE, Sikorski reminded that Russia has been attempting to conquer Donbas for over twelve years and trying to capture Kiev for more than four, without success, held back by Ukraine, a country with barely one-tenth of Russia's gross domestic product.
The Polish minister escalated the argument with a devastating comparison: "Poland has nearly half of its GDP. Europe has 10 times its GDP. NATO has 25 times its GDP."
The conclusion was decisive: «They can still kill many people, but they cannot win».
Sikorski described the conflict as an "imperial war of choice" that Moscow can end whenever it wants, and he demanded that Russia not place "greater danger on Europe and the world" nor continue "destroying the future of Russia."
The conclusion of his speech was a personal message directed at Vladimir Putin through the Russian Foreign Minister Serguéi Lavrov, who was present in the room: «Serguéi, I know you are listening. Tell your boss: enough already».
The speech comes at a time of heightened tension between Warsaw and Moscow. On September 13, Russia attacked a border area between Poland and Ukraine, intensifying the alarm in the region.
Two days later, Russian presidential adviser Nikolái Patrushev responded to previous statements by Sikorski with an explicit threat: Poland's statehood would "cease to exist in two or three days" if Poland entered into armed conflict with Russia.
The threat sparked a wave of reactions and mockery on social media, but Sikorski chose to respond with facts in the most visible multilateral forum in the world.
The Polish chancellor's position is not new. In April 2024, he had already warned before his country's Parliament that Russia would suffer a defeat if it attacked NATO, emphasizing that "Donbas is Ukraine, Crimea is Ukraine, Lviv, the former Eastern Galicia is also Ukraine."
In the same session of the Security Council on Wednesday, Lavrov dismissed any pause in Russian military operations during potential negotiations, although he expressed his willingness to discuss what he termed a "sustainable and just peace" on Moscow's terms.
Poland, a NATO member since 1999, is one of the allies that has most increased its defense spending in recent years and is a key supporter of Ukraine within the Alliance.
Sikorski, who previously held the position of Foreign Minister from 2007 to 2014 and returned to the role in 2023, has also served as Deputy Prime Minister since July 2025.
Filed under: