Last Friday Donald Tusk became the first Polish Prime Minister to visit the Kremlin since 2001. The trip was amicable but did not bring significant change to either country's stances on the most burning issues, the gas pipeline and anti-missile shield.
Poland presented a suggestion to move the proposed Russian-German gas pipeline to run through its own territory, but Russia demurred, sticking to its plan to run the pipeline under the Baltic Sea. Russia also repeated its concerns over the construction of the
Positive signals were sent by both sides, however. "Poland and Russia are tired of frosty politics," the Polish Prime Minister said. For his part, President Putin said, "Despite our mutual efforts to spoil our relations, we have not managed to do it."
Polish-Russian relations have ranged from chilly to sub-arctic over the last few years, but they took on a different character after the Polish parliamentary elections last October. The new government has declared its will to thaw relations with Russia, though Law and Justice (PiS), the largest opposition party, has accused it of being soft and weakening Poland's position in strategic affairs.
While the state visit may have gone well, the issue of the anti-missile shield, in particular, has produced some fiery rhetoric on the Russian side recently. Dmitry Rogozin, Russian Ambassador to NATO, for example, said, "Attempts in Poland to take a confrontational approach have always ended tragically - as in the Second World War, when the country lost almost every third inhabitant."
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Russian Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, Konstantin Kosachev, told the press that, "the anti-missile shield in Poland could be the target of the Russian defense systems."
