Sikorski says only recognition of failed war aims will force Putin to negotiate

Russia no longer has the capacity for large-scale escalation and lacks the resources for confrontation with NATO, but only the recognition by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that his war objectives against Ukraine have failed will push him toward real negotiations.

Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said this during a panel discussion with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha at the international security conference PISM Strategic Ark 2026, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"He [Putin] is now losing more soldiers than he can recruit. He has lost the battle of the Black Sea. His air force does not have domination over Ukrainian skies. And his economy is really beginning to suffer. So I think we should stay the course, and then eventually he has to admit to himself that his original war aims are unachievable. And only then will he negotiate for real," Sikorski said.

Sikorski expressed confidence that Russia does not have sufficient resources for serious escalation against NATO.

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He also said he did not think that Putin is capable of serious escalation because he does not have the strength for it and he does not have the power to challenge Finland or all of NATO.

Sikorski also stressed that the West should not return to fears of possible Kremlin "escalation" over military support for Ukraine.

"I hope we are not back to this silly discussion at the beginning of the war: 'Oh my God, if we give Ukraine tanks, Putin will escalate, if we give them jets, Putin will escalate.' Do you really believe there is anything that he would not do to win?" Sikorski said.

At the same time, he warned that the Kremlin may resort to provocations in an attempt to undermine Western unity, but it will not succeed.

"The imperial class in Moscow fundamentally misreads the psychology of democracies. They think that one more push and [the West] will be split up or incapable of acting. But if we look at what we have done over the last four years, the level of support for Ukraine from Europe and the United States, including now, has been far more than I would have expected five years ago," Sikorski said.