Speaking in Miami after meeting US Secretary of State Mark Rubio, Sikorski said he made the request because Poland has now reached the status of a trillion-dollar economy.
The United States will chair the G20 in 2026, giving it influence over invitations to new participants.
“We have the right to be there not only as one of the 20 largest economies, but also as a country that successfully transformed from a planned economy to a free one and can serve as an example for others,” Sikorski said.
The meeting in Miami coincided with the presentation of the Lech Wałęsa Solidarity Prize to Cuban dissident Berta Soler.
The award, worth PLN 1 million (EUR 235,000, USD 275,000), was created in 2014 to honour activists working for democracy in various countries around the globe.
Previous recipients include Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev, Russian journalist and activist Zhanna Nemtsova, daughter of the murdered opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, and Belarusian diplomat Pavel Latushka.
Sikorski described the award as “Poland’s pro-democratic Nobel” and said that it helps laureates continue their struggles.
The Polish foreign minister said his talks with Rubio also focused on Polish-American relations, which he described as very good, and on the review of US military deployments in Europe.
“Whether America increases its presence in Poland or reduces it will be the measure of success,” he said, noting that President Karol Nawrocki is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday.
Sikorski added that he had not received a response to his proposal to accompany the president to that meeting, calling the decision a departure from the practice of earlier Polish leaders who included government ministers in such talks.
Sikorski said the war in Ukraine was also discussed. He argued that peace would only come when Vladimir Putin recognises his invasion as a mistake, which is why stronger sanctions on Russia and more support for Ukraine are needed.
He highlighted Poland’s role in supporting Kyiv, pointing out that nearly all Western aid to Ukraine passes through Poland, that the country has sheltered millions of refugees, and that it has supplied Ukraine with more tanks than all of Western Europe combined.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP