The discussion on Russian aggression took place about a fortnight after the informal Gymnich meeting of EU foreign ministers in Warsaw and their subsequent visit to Lviv. The Council session began with remarks by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, who personally updated EU ministers on recent events, including the results of direct Ukrainian–Russian talks in Istanbul, Türkiye, and a phone call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump.

Minister Radosław Sikorski pointed out that Russia still has not adopted a constructive approach to the negotiations, which is why the political and economic pressure on the Kremlin must be maintained. In this context, he stressed the importance of the sanctions against Russia adopted at the Council meeting and pointed to the need to further ramp up the sanction pressure. Referring to Moscow’s hybrid attacks, Minister Sikorski announced his decision to withdraw consent to the operation of the Russian Consulate General in Kraków with effect from June 30 this year. Poland’s top diplomat also called on Hungary to unblock Ukraine’s EU accession process. 

On the Middle East, the ministers expressed their concern about the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and were mostly critical of Israel’s actions that hinder providing aid to civilians in the area. In this context, Minister Sikorski, along with a number of other ministers, supported the Dutch initiative to verify the compliance of Israel’s conduct with the provisions of the EU–Israel Association Agreement.

On Syria, the head of Polish diplomacy expressed his support for the policy of gradually lifting sanctions on the country and building constructive relations with its authorities.