Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis of 1980–1981 Kremlin was discontented with how leniently this suppression proceeded, and on 18 October 1981, it forced the Polish United Workers' Party to replace Kania with Jaruzelski. The latter promised to impose martial law but demanded backing his action by a promise of Warsaw Pact military intervention if he failed to control the situation. On 29 October, Jaruzelski's demands were discussed at a session of the Soviet Politburo, where Andropov confirmed the consensus that no Soviet troops would be sent to Poland. At the 14th annual meeting of the Committee of Ministers of Defense of the Warsaw Pact, which took place
1981 warning strike in Poland General Jaruzelski, two days later, he met Wałęsa and other Solidarity activists. The demands of the opposition were: If no agreement between the government and Solidarity had been reached, the general strike was planned for Tuesday, March 31. In between, a meeting between representatives of the NCC, headed by Wałęsa, and members of the Council of Ministers' Committee for Trade Unions, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Mieczysław Rakowski took place in Warsaw, but it ended without agreement. During this meeting, a Solidarity activist from Szczecin, yelled at Rakowski: "What if your wife cheats on you once, twice, three times? Will