During a short briefing for the Polish media Radoslaw Sikorski announced that he met on Friday with the head of one of the leading London think tanks, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), as well as with Catherine Ashton, former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
On Saturday he plans to visit one of the Polish schools in London, and on Monday he will talk to his British counterpart David Lammy and Defence Minister John Healey.
War in Ukraine. Polish Foreign Minister on Kiev's support: Poland did what it could
The Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs also announced that earlier on Friday spoke by phone with the new Minister of Foreign Affairs Ukrainy Andrijem Sybihąfor whom it was the first conversation after taking office. – We talked not only about cooperation in repelling Russian aggression, but also about how we can make so that historical issues divide us less than before – said the head of Polish diplomacy.
Radosław Sikorski announced that aid for Ukraine would be the main topic he intended to discuss during Monday's conversation with Lammy, and assessed that if Great Britain intends to accelerate the sending of long-range precision missiles, it would be “very valuable”.
– We already know that the Russians have destroyed, it is estimated, about 70 percent of Ukraine's electricity and heat generation capacity. And we know that Russians are also losing control of their drones, missiles, and there are nuclear power plants in Ukraine. So in our own interests, we, as the West, should do everything in our power to provide Ukraine with effective air defense forces as soon as possible. Poland did what it can. We ourselves could have had eight Patriot missile batteries, we have two. As a frontline state, we cannot give any more. – he argued.
Shooting down objects over Poland. Sikorski: I have a personal opinion
The Polish Foreign Minister, asked about Monday's interview for the Financial Times, in which he expressed the opinion that Poland and other frontline countries have an “obligation” to shoot down Russian missiles before they enter their airspace, emphasized that the discussion on where the right to self-defense ends is extremely important.
Radosław Sikorski pointed out that Russian drones and missiles they violate Polish airspacean example of which was the rocket that fell 10 km from his home in western Poland in the winter of 2023, and such incidents now happen frequently.
– We all know that once a drone enters Polish airspace, shooting is not without consequences, it can hurt someone. This is a matter in which I have a personal opinion, in which no decisions have been made, but as I have already mentioned, there is also the issue of protecting Ukrainian nuclear power plants, for example. The Russians are launching hundreds of drones and missiles and we cannot rule out that one of them will create a problem for the whole of Europe – explained the head of Polish diplomacy.