Polish leader sees temptation for Putin in Ukraine

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s foreign minister says he sees a temptation for Russia to create a land bridge to Crimea because it is having trouble managing the peninsula, which isn’t connected to the Russian mainland.

Radek Sikorski stressed he doesn’t know what Russian President Vladimir Putin will do and he hopes for an end to the confrontation in Ukraine. But he noted that Russia is finding it difficult to move water, fuel, food and other necessities into Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula it annexed earlier this year to international condemnation.

The difficulty of managing the peninsula, Sikorski said, creates a temptation for Russia to try to seize more of Ukraine’s territory to connect Crimea to the Russian mainland. Sikorski spoke Wednesday night in an interview with the private news broadcaster TVN.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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