Sikorski maintains he was ‘misunderstood’ about Ukraine partition

UPDATE: Speaking at a press briefing later on Tuesday, Radosław Sikorski said that his "memory had failed him." "After checking, it turned out that there was no bilateral Tusk-Putin meeting," he said, adding that he had been referring to Putin's statements in Bucharest. At a press conference on Tuesday and in an interview for the news portal of daily Gazeta Wyborcza, former Foreign Affairs Minister Radosław Sikorski maintained the stance that his words for the US Politico magazine have been misinterpreted. The magazine recently published quotes of Sikorski, now parliamentary speaker, saying that in 2008, Vladimir Putin suggested that Poland should take part in a partition of Ukraine together with Russia. He also said that then Prime Minister Donald Tusk did not reply to Putin’s suggestion but “made it clear” that Poland would not participate in any moves of that kind. After the publication, the former minister stressed that his words had not been authorized and they were over-interpreted. Speaking to the Polish daily, Sikorski said that he had heard of the conversation but did not reveal the source. He also said that the conversation should be put in context, as it took place before the war in Georgia and before the NATO-Russia summit in Bucharest when Putin called Ukraine an artificial country. Current Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz said on Tuesday that the reported conversation between Tusk and Putin was scandalous. She stressed that Poland would never take part in a “disgraceful partition” of another country.