Mateusz Morawiecki made the appeal after a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal in the southern Polish city of Kraków on Saturday, Poland's PAP news agency reported.
The two prime ministers discussed the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war, how it might develop, and the efforts of Poland and the European Union to assist Ukraine, according to officials.
At a joint briefing with his guest afterwards, Morawiecki deplored Russia’s “horrible crimes” in Bucha, Hostomel, Mariupol and “dozens of other cities” in Ukraine.
He went on to say: “In Mariupol, Russian soldiers, Russian criminals, want to starve children and women. They are waiting until people run out of water.”
Morawiecki added: “This is not war. This is genocide. No decent leader of the free world can stand for it.”
‘Crunching sanctions against Russia’
Morawiecki told reporters that sanctions against the Kremlin must be “crushing and … sufficiently wide-ranging to stop Putin’s war economy.”
He added that new punitive measures must “catch the Russian economy in a ‘corset’ and prevent it from financing the war.”
Declaring that Poland “no longer imports Russian coal,” Morawiecki called on “the whole free world to sanction oil, gas and coal from Russia as soon as possible.”
Poland-Ukraine trade deal and help with postwar reconstruction
Morawiecki and Shmyhal announced they had signed a Polish-Ukrainian agreement on "railway trade."
Under the deal, “Poland will help facilitate trade between Ukraine and the rest of the world,” the Polish leader said.
Morawiecki added: “Poland supports Ukraine in a time of war and will do so in a time of reconstruction as well … Polish companies will help with the reconstruction effort.”
‘Poland’s incredible support for Ukraine and Ukrainians’: Shmyhal
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Shmyhal hailed Poland’s support for his country and for its people fleeing the Russian invasion, saying: “I am grateful to Poland for incredible support and assistance to Ukraine and Ukrainians.”
Shmyhal also called Morawiecki “a great friend of Ukraine.”
Monday is day 61 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Poland on Sunday reported it had welcomed nearly 2.94 million refugees fleeing Russia's war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, gov.pl