At the 2026 Yalta European Strategy (YES) annual conference this weekend in Kyiv, Ukraine, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski, said, “If Russia attacked us, and we took our gloves off, I think we would defeat Russia quite quickly. We have overwhelming superiority over Russia in air power.”
He added, “With or without the U.S., it’s still overwhelming.”
Sikorski said, “If the Ukrainians have knocked out half of Russia’s refining capacity in six months, we could do it in six weeks, and take out the other half.”
Polish Foreign Minister @sikorskiradek:
If Russia attacked us, we would defeat Russia quite quickly. We have overwhelming superiority over Russia in air power.
If the Ukrainians have knocked out half of Russia’s refining capacity in six months, we could do it in six weeks and…
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 13, 2026
Sikorski’s remarks were met with criticism on social media, where many replied with comments including, “Without EU and NATO resources Poland alone would stand no chance of survival.”
After his remarks at the conference, Sikorski wrote: “To make it clear what I said in Kyiv. That in the event of Russian aggression against NATO, thanks to air superiority, the air force of NATO’s European part would be able to, even without US involvement, destroy half of Russia’s refineries faster than Ukraine. I still believe that.”
Żeby było jasne co powiedziałem w Kijowie. Że w wypadku rosyjskiej agresji na NATO, dzięki przewadze w powietrzu, lotnictwo europejskiej części NATO byłoby w stanie, nawet bez udziału USA, zniszczyć połowę rosyjskich rafinerii szybciej niż Ukraina.
Nadal tak uważam.— Radosław Sikorski
(@sikorskiradek) September 14, 2026
After the conference, The Washington Post reported “a Russian drone hit a truck less than a mile from Polish territory, according to border guards, forcing the temporary closure of the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing.”
And The Associated Press reported, “A Russian drone struck a train near the Ukraine-Poland border on Sunday” shortly after senior visiting officials — including the former prime ministers of the U.K. and Sweden — left the YES conference.
[NOTE: President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is working as a U.S. envoy and has recently traveled to Russia and Ukraine, addressed the YES conference audience via video, and suggested that Ukraine’s refusal to cede territory demanded by Russia is preventing a peace agreement between the nations. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, initiating the ongoing war.]