Speaker of Parliament Radosław Sikorski has said that the conflict in eastern Ukraine is in a sense a battle already lost for President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian servicemen on an APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier) pass by the village of Artemivsk, near Debaltseve, Donetsk area, Ukraine, 23 February 2015. EPA/ANASTASIA VLASOVA

According to Sikorski, who was interviewed by public broadcaster TVP, Putin has ''lost Ukraine, as he has [the strength of] young Ukrainian nationalism against him, and he is meeting with ever greater resistance.''

Sikorski reflected that Moscow had wanted to bring Ukraine into a Russian-led Eurasian Union and a customs union.

By arming separatists in eastern Ukraine, Moscow was only stoking stronger nationalism elsewhere in the country, he argued.

Asked what the reaction should be if Russia openly began a war with Ukraine, Sikorski said that ''then you will need to help the victim of aggression to defend itself.

''More people will die, but if we let Russia conquer Ukraine, do we not pay a price for that?"

Sikorski, who served as Poland's foreign minister from 2007 to 2014, also affirmed that Ukraine must forge ahead with internal reforms, noting the example of Poland in the wake of the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989.

''Whereas Poland used its opportunity to realise reforms, Ukraine missed its chance to do so, and it is paying a price for this.''

Polish ministers and economic experts have been in talks with Ukrainian authorities over the last two months on prospective reforms, and Warsaw has pledged to loan EUR 100 million to Kiev.

Sikorski argued that Europe cannot abandon Kiev.

''Ukrainians are struggling at the gateway to Europe - we owe them our solidarity,'' he said. (nh)