Russian-Polish relations have dropped to a historic low, Russian ambassador to Poland Sergey Andreev said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“They [relations] have reached a historic low. There is practically no contact at the moment. There have been no political contacts at the ministerial level since 2014. And now there are no contacts at all, except for technical issues. There is no dialogue,” he said.
As the ambassador pointed out, in the economic sphere, Polish companies that used to work in the Russian market are actively encouraged to leave this market, and many Russian companies in Poland are put on the sanctions list by the authorities.
“Our relations in all spheres, including culture, are tending toward zero,” Andreev summarized.
When asked if he feels safe in Poland, the Russian ambassador answered in the affirmative. “For many years of my stay here, except for the situation of May 9, I have never encountered hostility from the Poles I’ve met,” Andreev said.
According to him, after the May 9 incident, the embassy have been receiving daily “calls, letters of regret, apologies, etc.” for a week. “So, in my opinion, the Poles’ reaction was mostly adequate,” he pointed out.
Attack on diplomats
Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergey Andreev arrived on Victory Day at the war memorial cemetery of Soviet soldiers on Zwirki i Wigury Street in Warsaw in a diplomatic car with a Russian flag. As he stepped out of the car, he was surrounded by an aggressive crowd that had previously convened at this memorial site, carrying Ukrainian flags, sheets soaked with red paint and anti-Russian slogans. The police weren’t present on the square at that moment. Diplomats were able to make several dozen steps, but the crowd didn’t allow them to move further.
For several minutes, the crowd shouted at the diplomats and hurled packages with a red substance at them. As the ambassador said on Rossiya-24 TV channel later, the diplomats were doused with sweet syrup. After a while, the police pushed back the crowd and escorted the diplomats to their cars. None of them were seriously hurt.
The Russian Foreign Ministry sent a strong protest to the Polish authorities, requiring them to immediately arrange a wreath-laying ceremony and protect its participants from any kind of provocation. The Polish Foreign Ministry said that the attack on the Russian ambassador is deplorable and should not have happened, as diplomats of all countries are protected.
