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Szucha Avenue, Warsaw, 8 a.m. In front of the entrance to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, Radosław Sikorski greets his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiha, who had been in negotiations with the U.S. in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a few hours earlier. Sybiha wants to convey the results of these talks to the Polish government.
"We keep in constant touch, but there is nothing like a direct conversation," says Sikorski after the meeting. He adds that Poland is satisfied with the new proposals to resolve the conflict with Russia, which President Vladimir Putin started over three years ago.
This is their second conversation in a few dozen hours. Keith Kellogg, Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, also contacted Sikorski before leaving for Jeddah.
"The only thing we are afraid of," Newsweek is told unofficially from a senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or MFA, official, "is that [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio and [National Security Adviser] Mike Waltz have agreed on something with the Ukrainians, but it may not be to Donald Trump's liking, to put it bluntly. Of course, they have passed on to Kyiv the expectations of the U.S. president, but perhaps in a milder, slightly more civilized manner, showing a greater willingness to engage in genuine negotiations."
Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Sikorski, a member of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centrist coalition government, has been staying in constant touch with Trump's advisers for weeks. He has spoken numerous times with Kellogg, Rubio and Waltz. A significant portion of these conversations have not been made public.
"Right now, the most important thing in dealing with Trump and his administration is to maintain dignity, not get too battered and take care of a little of your own business," says a Polish diplomat familiar with the current power dynamics in Washington, D.C.
"Radosław Sikorski is the right man in the right place at the right time," claims former Minister of Foreign Affairs Adam Daniel Rotfeld. "In the current situation, the most important thing is the ability to navigate politics with such partners. And he knows people, he speaks English virtually as well as Polish."
The End of Courtesy
There is a saying that every U.S. administration learns Europe from scratch and, according to diplomats, this time it is particularly true. "In relations with Americans, you have to maneuver. Their attitude toward the world has always been based on the conviction of their greatness and the power of their business, but they have maintained courtesy.
"Under Trump, they decided that the time for courtesy was over and showed everyone what jerks they can be, shocking their partners," an MFA source tells Newsweek. "The Danes told us that when their prime minister visited Mar-a-Lago, everything was great, and 10 days later Trump says: 'Give us Greenland.'"
Polish diplomats view this as part of a new U.S. tactic, to which they need to respond calmly. "Canada has stepped up, Mexico has stepped up, Europe is beginning to play its own game, and the Americans are slowly realizing that, despite being a powerful player, they cannot play against everyone. They already recognize that this tactic is failing and will seek an alternative, but, of course, it will take some time," says one of the interviewed officials.
"Americans expect not only dialogue but also subordination, and this applies not just to Poland. They use the same attitude with Great Britain, France and Germany," says Rotfeld. "It is difficult to imagine anyone as assertive in relations with the U.S. as Minister Sikorski. He responds succinctly and precisely, in a manner similar to that of his American counterparts."
'Take Away His Twitter Account'
Yet Sikorski's assertiveness went too far for his domestic opponents' liking in a recent contretemps with Elon Musk. When the head of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency said on X, formerly Twitter, that without his satellite communications Ukraine would have no chance at war, Sikorski responded: "Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year. The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers."
"Be quiet, small man," Musk shot back. Rubio told the minister to be thankful that the Russians are not standing on the Polish border right now.
Sikorski, famous for responding in the heat of the moment—"He should count to a hundred before tweeting," advises one diplomat—did not let the billionaire provoke him and responded to the secretary of state: "Thank you, Marco, for confirming that the brave soldiers of Ukraine can count on the vital internet service provided jointly by [the U.S.] and [Poland]. Together, Europe and the United States can help [Ukraine] to achieve a just peace."
"I served with Polish soldiers, I was in Poland, and I don't know of any country that is more pro-American than Poland," Republican Congressman Don Bacon told CNN. "Why is a White House official, who was not even elected, humiliating a Polish foreign minister?" he added.
"This is not OK. We need more discipline in the White House. Poland is our friend. If you have a problem with them, call them and talk to them, but stop publicly criticizing our friends in a world where we have real threats from China, Russia and Iran."
Poland's right-wing Law and Order party, known as PiS, was ready for such a war of words. "For the sake of Polish diplomacy—maybe someone should take away Sikorski's Twitter account? Preferably before it leads to the U.S. withdrawing its soldiers from Poland," warned former Deputy Head of the MFA Paweł Jabłoński.
Katarzyna Sójka, former health minister, tweeted: "Thank you, @elonmusk."
PiS has said this is a collapse of Polish diplomacy and a breakdown of relations between Warsaw and Washington. They repeatedly claim it is a deliberate effort by Tusk and Sikorski, who is also known as Radek, to push the U.S. out of NATO and Europe. Some even suggest that the Americans might withdraw from NATO simply because Sikorski posted a tweet.
"But what quarrel with Musk? Give me a break," shrugs a person from Sikorski's circle. "First of all, the minister did not get into a scuffle with Musk—he just said who pays for Starlink, truthfully. Second, we got hit by a ricochet, because the day before there was a full-scale brawl between Rubio and Musk, and the secretary, who realizes who is more important to Trump, decided to suck up to him a little and that's why he attacked Radek."
"After this exchange of views, Kellogg called Radek to talk about the negotiations in Saudi Arabia, and there was no mention of it at all," a person familiar with behind-the-scenes contact between the head of Polish diplomacy and the U.S. tells Newsweek. "They assess diplomatic movements in a completely different way than it's done in our backyard.
"The gentlemen traded blows and we are moving on. They just know that Radek will not stand by passively and take it. Besides, they have to reckon with him because, regardless of the narrative in Poland, he is an extremely serious player in Europe. He works closely with the head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, conducts some of the talks as her representative and has excellent connections in Kyiv," the Newsweek source adds.
Polish diplomats do not hide the fact that while they can determine how to arrange relations with the U.S. administration, someone such as Musk is beyond them.
The Boss Is Happy
Sikorski should be happy. After the clash with Musk, two polls in Poland were conducted. One survey asked whether Musk should apologize to Sikorski and 64 percent of respondents answered yes. The second survey measured the assessment of Sikorski's job at the MFA. Over 44 percent considered it good, 27 percent bad and over 20 percent had no opinion. This means that Poles—including those who do not vote for the ruling Civic Coalition, known as the KO, or other parties of the alliance—did not like their minister being put down.
Sikorski's popularity is such that some KO politicians regret he is not their presidential candidate for upcoming elections in May. "He is everywhere now, people are talking about him, he is associated with national security and at the same time, in the eyes of many, he's a tough guy," Newsweek's interviewee says. It is being argued again that conservative voters would find the head of the MFA more palatable than the current KO candidate, Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski.
"You have no idea how many senior party members are calling Radek right now, inviting him for a coffee, assuring him of their support," a person from Sikorski's circle says.
But most people immediately ask, who would replace him at the helm of the MFA? It would be hard to find someone in the KO ranks who could jump into the extremely complicated global affairs occurring now.
Some people suggest "maybe Rafał," but this is obviously a joke. If Trzaskowski wins the presidency, he will need to establish a working relationship with Sikorski, his former rival from the primaries, and remember what the head of the MFA loves to point out to Polish president Andrzej Duda: While the president represents Poland on the international stage, it is the government that shapes Polish foreign policy.
▸ Dominika Długosz is a political reporter for Newsweek Poland. This article was translated by her colleague, U.S. correspondent Piotr Milewski.
