Mateusz Morawiecki’s words came as he spoke to reporters alongside his visiting Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte, Poland's PAP news agency reported.
The Polish prime minister said: “It is important that countries are on the same wavelength when it comes to imposing sanctions. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin must know that for every new war crime there will be more sanctions.”
Morawiecki added he had talked with the Netherlands' Rutte about how best to help people who had been displaced by the Russian invasion.
“In the face of brute force, we must act together in a wise way," he stated, as quoted by his office in English. "Therefore, with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, we discussed possible mechanisms to alleviate war refugees from Ukraine. Over 2 million of them are already in Poland."
Morawiecki also praised the “amazing” resistance of the Ukrainian people, saying they needed more defensive armaments to "prevail over the Russian aggressor."
He said: “Ukraine is defending itself in an amazing way, and it is clear that it will continue to do so until the successful end - that is, until it defends its territorial independence. But to do so, it needs defensive weapons.”
'EU should grant Ukraine candidate status': Polish PM
Morawiecki called on the European Union to “give Ukraine hope” by swiftly making the country an official candidate for membership of the bloc.
He added that he would be canvassing support for the move during a summit of EU leaders later this week.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands' Rutte said that both the EU and the NATO alliance were ready “to hit the Russian regime as hard as possible, whether by sanctions or by arms shipments.”
Rutte congratulated Morawiecki on the way Poland “is playing a leading role in supporting Ukraine” and declared that the Netherlands would “stand shoulder to shoulder with Poland.”
He pledged his country would do its part by welcoming refugees from Ukraine and providing “Poland and other allies” with weapons to protect their airspace.
Monday was day 26 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Poland on Monday reported it had taken in more than 2.11 million refugees fleeing Russia's war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP