2024-10-21 14:43 update: 2024-10-23, 15:03
Photo: PAP/Marcin Obara
A Polish deputy foreign minister has said that in his view Poland should be included in international deliberations on the situation in Ukraine, as Warsaw will surely be a key part of the rebuilding of the country.
On Friday US President Joe Biden took part in a meeting with top European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. At the meeting, the politicians discussed the possibility of ending the war Russia has waged over Ukraine as well as the situation in the Middle East.
Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski was asked by PAP on Monday about Biden’s decision to exclude Poland from the conversation on the war of its eastern neighbour.
Bartoszewski responded that over the years it has been a recurring thing for the US president to meet and discuss such issues with America’s strongest European allies - the UK, France and Germany.
"That’s clearly the form in which this meeting was organised by President Biden," Bartoszewski said.
He also touched on the subject of Ukraine’s victory plan, the dossier on which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski has recently referred to some of his country’s allies.
According to Zelensky, the files "have been given to those countries, which specifically have the means to support Ukraine" in the ways outlined by the plan.
He added: "If a country does not have that, then why should it be given the dossier, even if it is our close partner? We trust them, but what would be the point?"
Bartoszewski commented on the fact that Poland had been excluded from the list of countries which received the information on the victory plan.
"We have provided Ukraine with military help in the most crucial way, because when Germany was talking about sending them helmets, we sent them 320 tanks," he said. "Therefore, our input has evidently been substantial, especially in the beginning, when it was most needed."
That’s why, he continued, "with all certainty, we should have access to these files."
"Surely the Polish foreign ministry will speak on this issue with the Ukrainian side, because we stay in continuous communication."
He added that he sees no possibility of rebuilding Ukraine without the participation of Poland. (PAP)
mj/mf
