During the meeting, Minister Zbigniew Rau highlighted the need to adopt as soon as possible the extraordinary measures to support Ukraine’s armed forces from the European Peace Facility.

He made a point that military assistance for Ukraine should go hand in hand with humanitarian aid. In this context, the minister emphasised that a regional hub is being set up in cooperation with the EU in south-eastern Poland as a place to bring together aid from member states and deliver it safely to Ukraine. Along with these measures, Poland is providing bilateral support to Ukraine, including by delivering indispensable fuel and organising help for refugees.

Also, the Polish foreign minister pointed out that disconnecting major Russian banks from the SWIFT system and freezing assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation as well as imposing sanctions on selected oligarchs will send a strong signal that may have an impact on the Kremlin’s calculations. At the same time, the minister emphasised that the EU should be prepared to take further steps in the face of the deeply distressing events in the east, such as excluding Russia and Belarus entirely from SWIFT, banning Russia from making transactions in the euro, freezing assets of large Russian banks, or introducing a ban on importing critical energy raw materials from Russia.

Minister Rau welcomed the decision to impose individual sanctions on more Russians – politicians, oligarchs, and military officials, most of whom had been suggested by Poland. He also commended the decision to close the EU airspace to the Russian aircraft, initiated by Poland’s internal decision in this regard.

Referring to the gravity of the situation in Ukraine and the necessity to urgently come to Kyiv’s aid, Minister Rau called for a clear European perspective for Ukraine.

 

Łukasz Jasina
MFA Spokesman

Photo: Sebastian Indra/MFA