Zbigniew Rau will hold talks with Anthony Blinken as part of his ongoing visit to Washington, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Polish foreign ministry spokesman Łukasz Jasina told the media that the discussions would focus on “Polish-American relations a the time of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, assistance to Ukraine, and ways to develop Polish-US relations in this difficult situation.”
Jasina added that the Polish foreign minister’s overriding message during his talks in Washington was that “the war continues and may last really long, while Russia is pursuing a very aggressive policy, even more aggressive than at the start of the war.”
Jasina also told reporters: “Poland and the US are working very well together, but this needs to be further strengthened and streamlined. The eastern flank of NATO must be reinforced, which is clear for everyone to see after the incident in Przewodów.”
During the briefing, Jasina was asked if there was a chance that American military presence in Poland would be boosted, after Congress asked for further deployment of US forces to NATO’s eastern flank in a draft 2023 defence policy bill.
Jasina said: “I believe there is a huge chance that NATO’s eastern flank will be further strengthened.”
During the meeting with Blinken, Rau also plans to summarise his year in charge of the Organisation for the Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), officials said.
Friday is day three of the Polish foreign minister’s four-day visit to Washington.
On Thursday, Rau took part in the Aspen Security Forum conference, alongside his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billström and Finland's Pekka Haavisto, as well as a German deputy foreign minister.
Poland’s top diplomat told the event, as quoted by Polish state news agency PAP: “We are in no doubt whatsoever that the Americans are indispensable to Europe. I can’t imagine Europe defending itself alone, without strong transatlantic cooperation."
Rau added that Poland was also interested in developing military cooperation within the European Union and urged European countries to boost their defence spending.
He told the conference that Poland was planning to spend 4.2 percent of its GDP on defence next year.
Friday is day 289 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, wpolityce.pl