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UPDATE: Polish FM visits Ukraine’s Bucha

02.08.2022 13:30
Poland’s foreign minister on Tuesday began a trip to Ukraine with a visit to the war-scarred town of Bucha.
Polands Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau (centre) pays tribute to the victims of civilian massacres committed by Russian forces in the town of Bucha near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, on Tuesday, August 2, 2022.
Poland's Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau (centre) pays tribute to the victims of civilian massacres committed by Russian forces in the town of Bucha near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, on Tuesday, August 2, 2022.Twitter/Polish Foreign Ministry

Zbigniew Rau was later scheduled to meet with Ukraine’s leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, Polish state news agency PAP reported. 

Poland’s top diplomat arrived in Ukraine with a delegation of officials from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), reporters were told. 

Poland presides over the OSCE in 2022, with Rau serving as the organisation's chairman. 

In Ukraine, Rau was being accompanied by the OSCE’s Secretary-General Helga Schmid, among other officials, according to the PAP news agency. 

“Poland’s Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman Zbigniew Rau is visiting Ukraine to discuss the OSCE’s future activities in Ukraine and to hold bilateral talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba,” said Łukasz Jasina, the spokesman for Poland’s foreign ministry. 

Jasina added: “Minister Rau will also be hosted by President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, as well as attend the sites of Russian war crimes ...”

Rau visits Bucha

In Bucha near the capital Kyiv, Poland's top diplomat visited the burial places of the victims of civilian massacres committed by Russian forces in the town, the PAP news agency reported.

It said Rau also met with displaced Ukrainians living in temporary accommodation financed by the Polish government.     

Tuesday was day 160 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP