- Polish President Andrzej Duda criticized Macron and Scholz over their contact with Putin.
- In an interview with German media, Duda compared Putin to Hitler during World War II.
- Scholz and Macron have routinely spoke to Putin throughout the ongoing Ukraine war.
Polish President Andrzej Duda criticized his German and French counterparts over their contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin, comparing it to speaking with Adolf Hitler during World War II.
In a recent interview with the German outlet Bild, Duda slammed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron for routinely having one-on-one phone calls with Putin throughout the 15-week-long war in neighboring Ukraine.
"Did anyone speak like this with Adolf Hitler during World War II?" Reuters reported Duda telling Bild. "Did anyone say that Adolf Hitler must save face? That we should proceed in such a way that it is not humiliating for Adolf Hitler? I have not heard such voices."
Duda's remarks came after Macron urged the West not to humiliate Russia and keep diplomacy on the table as Russia's war drags on in a bloody and slow-moving campaign in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.
Macron's comments drew criticism from Ukraine, with its foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba writing on Twitter that "calls to avoid humiliation of Russia can only humiliate France and every other country that would call for it."
German leadership, meanwhile, has also faced condemnation over its inaction regarding the delivery of weapons to Ukraine.