Overview

• Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club on October 2, Vladimir Putin said Poland made many mistakes before World War II.
• He argued that Germany proposed peaceful solutions regarding Danzig and the Polish corridor and that Polish leaders categorically refused.
• Putin asserted that Poland ultimately became the first victim of Nazi aggression as a consequence of those decisions.
• He urged today’s Polish leadership to consider Józef Piłsudski’s errors, saying that doing so could be a positive outcome.
• State outlets reported the remarks from the Valdai plenary in Sochi, with TASS also noting Putin’s claim that Poland blocked Soviet assistance to Czechoslovakia.