Polish President Likens Putin To 'Hitler' After Blasting Germany, France Over Inaction

As the Russia-Ukraine war continues to its fifth month with no end in sight, Polish President Andrzej Duda has criticized the leaders of Germany and France for their phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin in negotiating the end of the war.

Duda compared the calls to maintaining a line with Adolf Hitler during World War II, saying that the calls themselves only legitimized the war in the eyes of the international community, and would not help Ukraine at all during negotiations with Russia, according to Deutsche Welle.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held one-on-one calls with Putin, with Macron earning the ire of Ukrainians around the world by asking them not to “humiliate” Putin so that negotiations with the country can be preserved, the New York Post reported.

“Did anyone speak like this with Adolf Hitler during World War Two?” Duda asked. “Did anyone say that Adolf Hitler must save face? That we should proceed in such a way that it is not humiliating for Adolf Hitler? I have not heard such voices.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also commented on Macron’s concept of Ukraine humiliating Putin for a war that he started, saying “I do not really understand what is humiliating Russia. Are we talking about the fact that for eight years they have been killing Ukrainians?”

“I do not even believe that [Russians] are humiliating Ukraine,” Zelenskyy continued. “That would be a weak position. No one is humiliating us. They are killing us. So in response, we are not going to humiliate anyone. We are going to respond in kind.”

Macron and other leaders in the West have previously suggested that Zelenskyy relinquish some land to Putin in order to expedite the peace process, which he has shot down, comparing it to giving land to Hitler just to appease Germany in the run-up to World War II.

Duda has found himself angered at Germany specifically for their slow help in replacing military equipment that Poland had given up with the promise that Germany would come in and help the country’s military capabilities.

“As far as I know we've received nothing at all,” Duda said. “We gave our tanks away and now we have nothing at all in their place.”

“Perhaps German business does not believe that the Russian army could again celebrate a major victory in Berlin and occupy a part of Germany. We in Poland know that that's possible,” Duda continued.