The visit came ahead of US President Joe Biden’s trip to Warsaw later this week, for talks with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda on the international response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.
While in Warsaw, Burns on Monday met with Poland's Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński, who oversees his country’s security agencies, officials said.
Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński. Photo: Wojciech Kusiński/Polish Radio
Kamiński’s spokesman, Stanisław Żaryn, said in a statement on Tuesday that the meeting explored “current challenges posed by Russia’s war operations against Ukraine.”
Burns also held talks with the chiefs of Poland’s civil and military intelligence and counterintelligence agencies, according to Żaryn.
He told the media that the CIA director’s visit to Poland “at this difficult time, underlines the special importance of the Poland-US relationship and cooperation on the response to Russian threats,” the PAP news agency reported.
While in the Polish capital, Burns also stopped at the presidential palace for a talk with Duda in the company of the US ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski, and Duda’s top foreign policy advisor, Jakub Kumoch, according to officials.
The Polish president’s office later shared news of the meeting on Twitter.
The Polish president’s chief of staff, Paweł Szrot, on Tuesday refused to reveal details of Duda’s conversation with Burns.
In an interview with Polish Radio, Szrot only said that “Poland and the United States have intensified their intelligence cooperation” amid Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the public broadcaster’s IAR news agency reported.
Paweł Szrot. Image: Polish Radio
Duda and Biden are scheduled to meet in Warsaw on Saturday.
Earlier this week, Biden is expected to hold talks with NATO allies, G7 leaders and European Union politicians in Brussels, Belgium.
Tuesday is day 27 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Poland on Tuesday reported it had taken in more than 2.14 million refugees fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP