Poland’s Zbigniew Rau and Estonia’s Margus Tsahkna held talks in Warsaw on Wednesday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s polskieradio24.pl website reported.
The Polish and Estonian foreign ministers focused their discussions on support for Ukraine, security issues, including the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Polish-Estonian ties in areas such as defence and energy, according to officials.
Support for Ukraine, sanctions for Russia
At a joint news conference afterwards, Rau said that “Poland and Estonia are working together to support Ukraine and create a tribunal to bring Russia’s war criminals to justice.”
“Our countries also share the view that sanctions against Russia should be further strengthened,” he added.
Poland’s top diplomat noted that European Union governments on Wednesday approved a “long-awaited” 11th package of punitive measures against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Rau said the package “includes many measures advocated by Poland,” such as those designed to stop other countries and companies from circumventing existing sanctions.
He said the package also contained a ban on entry for Russian trailers carrying goods, and on the import of Russian oil through the Northern Druzhba pipeline, as advocated by Poland.
Holding Russia accountable for war crimes in Ukraine
The Polish foreign minister said that both Poland and Estonia shared the view that "the perpetrators of war crimes in Ukraine should be held criminally responsible.”
He stated: “We are determined to keep supporting Ukraine and also to take an active role in the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
Rau said he and Tsahkna had discussed ways to "further develop Polish-Estonian relations" and "strengthen our bilateral and multilateral cooperation."
He stated: "With the ongoing war in our region, the need to maintain unity and solidarity, as well as close coordination of activities, is more important than ever."
Support for Ukraine’s NATO bid
Meanwhile, Estonia’s Tsahkna said that Wednesday’s talks also focused on the upcoming summit of the NATO alliance in Vilnius.
He told reporters that by the time the summit takes place in the Lithuanian capital on July 11-12, NATO allies should agree on a perspective for Ukraine’s membership of the alliance in the future.
“It’s very important that we reach an agreement in NATO and send a clear message to Ukraine that there is a place for Kyiv in the alliance,” Estonia’s top diplomat said, as quoted by polskieradio24.pl.
Tsahkna also said that the West must “keep supporting Ukraine in the military and political sense” and that “the only acceptable resolution of this conflict is a victory for Ukraine, on Ukraine’s terms.”
He thanked Poland for providing Estonia with military assistance and for helping protect the skies over the Baltic states under NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission, polskieradio24.pl reported.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Thursday is day 484 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: polskieradio24.pl, gov.pl