Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday in Berlin that there was hope for de-escalation in the Middle East. He also stressed that Poland would like participate in defusing tension.
Morawiecki came to German capital to take part in an economic congress organised by media corporation Axel Springer. He met with journalists at a short briefing.
"As to the situation in the Middle East, I think that hopes for real de-escalation do appear. So that the level of tension is lower. That's how I understand the last statement by President Trump. And I do hope that escalation of these tensions, or some provocations won't happen," said the Polish PM, reminding that Polish troops are stationed in Iraq for a training mission.
"Hopes are high for things to turn out better than it would seem this morning, or last night," Morawiecki added and stressed that Warsaw wants to help in lessening tension in the region. He revealed that Poland, together with its NATO partners, but also through good contacts in the Middle East, was striving through diplomatic channels to make the conflict in the Middle East to "rather die down than esclalate".
Asked about NATO engagement, Morawiecki said he would advise strongly against "any impulsive reaction in both directions - either rapid withdrawal, or escalalation of presence or of these tensions". Referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's Wednesday's statement - the first one after missile attack on U.S. bases in Iraq - he said "it's certainly difficult to judge and interpret words spoken by leaders of countries involved in this conflict". However, in Polish PM's understanding, the words were aimed at easing tension, which - in his view - was a very important signal.
The U.S. President announced, among other things, he would impose sanctions on Iran and ask NATO for greater commitment in the Middle East.
The head of Polish cabinet underscored that no representatives of NATO member-states had been killed in the missile attack, and that Polish soldiers had not been in danger due to hightened tensions in the Middle East.
"All seems to point a war of nerves of sorts, exchange of punches, and it would be good for it to end, and I do hope it will end, and that's where the declarations I'm hearing today are heading," PM Morawiecki said.
Trump's statement
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday backed away from days of angry rhetoric against Iran as the two countries tried to defuse a crisis over the American killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
In an address from the White House, Trump said the United States did not necessarily have to respond militarily to Iranian missile attacks on military bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq overnight.
He said no Americans were harmed in the strikes.
"The fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean we have to use it. We do not want to use it. American strength, both military and economic, is the best deterrent," he said.
"Our great American forces are prepared for anything. Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world," he said.
Trump stopped short of making any direct threat of military action against Iran but said the United States "will immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the Iranian regime" in response to what he called "Iranian aggression."
He offered no specific measures.
Iranian retaliation
Iranian forces fired missiles at military bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq on Wednesday in retaliation for the killing last week in Iraq of Iranian general Soleimani, raising the stakes in its conflict with Washington amid concern about a wider war in the Middle East.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, addressing a gathering of Iranians chanting "Death to America," said the missile attacks were a "slap on the face" of the United States and said U.S. troops should leave the region.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had said the strikes "concluded" Tehran's response to the killing of Soleimani, who had been responsible for building up Iran's network of proxy armies across the Middle East. He was buried in his hometown Kerman on Monday after days of national mourning.
"We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression," he wrote on Twitter.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, Reuters