Ukrainian authorities organized a large-scale military parade in Kiev dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the country's independence, celebrated on August 24. Although this year's Independence Day celebrations featured a massive military parade, featuring about 200 pieces of military equipment making their way through the center of Kiev, the event was not attended by any representatives of the international community, with the exception of Poland.
"I was very surprised about the visit itself, because, besides Andrzej Duda, no leader of a foreign country came to Kiev on August 24!" Pietka told Sputnik. "Since Western leaders didn't arrive in Kiev for celebrations, it means that Ukraine is becoming a big problem for the West. The West made it clear that Ukraine's hopes to join the EU and NATO are illusory. Ukraine scares [Western countries] away by the continuing slump of its economy, while at the same time the prospect of upcoming riots and social upheaval is growing," he added.
Poroshenko revealed that his negotiations with Duda focused on prospects of broader bilateral cooperation and called for more investment in the Ukrainian economy. However, such kind of cooperation has not been met with excitement by the Polish public.
"Many Poles don't like that their country is being more and more drawn into the conflict in Ukraine, that the government is doing everything to strengthen economic and political sanctions against Russia. This has caused disapproval of a large part of Polish society. Our people also don't like the loans which go from RP's financial funds to Ukraine as part of economic assistance, while their scale remains unknown. These loans are going to Kiev, even from the reserves of the Polish National Bank! And our society doesn't like this at all," Pietka stated.
