Poland’s Piotr Gliński and Lithuania’s Simonas Kairys paid a solidarity visit to Kyiv at the invitation of Ukraine's Oleksandr Tkachenko, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The three-way Polish-Ukrainian-Lithuanian format is known as the Lublin Triangle.
During the meeting, Gliński and Kairys declared their countries’ “infallible solidarity with Ukraine” and the three culture ministers “signed a statement to this effect,” Polish officials announced.
Gliński, who is also a deputy prime minister, told reporters afterwards: “We are in Kyiv today to demonstrate our full support for Ukraine, to show that for us, ‘solidarity’ is not an empty word.”
He added: “We Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainians, nations based in the heart of Europe, know full well from our difficult, sometimes shared history, the modus operandi of the Russian Federation, the heir to the Soviet Union and czarist Russia.”
‘Ukraine fights for fundamental values’
“These experiences prompt us to stand here together because today Ukraine is fighting not just for its own freedom, but ours as well, for fundamental values,” the Polish culture minister said.
Gliński told reporters that Russia’s war on Ukraine meant “death for innocent people and the destruction of culture, which is an integral, indispensable part of European heritage.”
“We want to help Ukraine on all fronts, including in the realm of culture,” he said, adding: “I deeply believe that the entire civilised world is siding with Ukraine; I am confident that the Ukrainians will eventually win.”
“Today, we have an opportunity like never before for reconciliation and for strengthening our mutual relations,” Gliński also said.
Working together
The three-way talks between Gliński, Tkachenko and Kairys focused on shared efforts to restore Ukraine’s national heritage; financial and technical assistance for Ukrainian broadcasters; and joint cultural projects for people displaced by the war, among other initiatives, Poland’s culture ministry said in a statement.
Friday’s meeting was a follow-on from a previous get-together on February 28, when the culture ministers of the Lublin Triangle signed a declaration on cooperation in the field of culture and heritage protection, the PAP news agency reported.
Friday was day 58 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, gov.pl