Poland determined which conditions are necessary to improve relations with Russia
The cancellation of economic sanctions against Poland and the return of the wreckage of the Polish president Lech Kaczynski’s Tu-154 plane are the conditions required to improve relations with Russia. This was stated by the Polish minister of foreign affairs, Witold Waszczykowski, while commenting on the statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin about restoring dialogue between the two countries.
Last week, the Russian leader, receiving credentials from a number of new ambassadors, including from Poland, said that Moscow was ready to restore the political dialogue with Warsaw on the basis of mutual respect and pragmatism, and that it was ready to do everything to achieve this goal, RIA Novosti reported.
“I agree with this statement, but I would emphasize the word ‘mutual,’” Waszczykowski said.
“If Russia requires respect and pragmatism from us, we also demand the same from Russia. President Putin says he is ready to do everything. I say, we do not need everything; let him at least start with returning the fragments of the crashed plane and lifting the economic sanctions imposed on Poland. Then we can get back to the pragmatic conversation,” he added.
President Kaczynski’s plane crashed in 2010 while landing at the Smolensk North airport. All 96 people on board, heading for the mourning ceremonies in Katyn, were killed. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation had previously stated that the fragments of the Polish president’s aircraft could not be transferred to Warsaw before completion of the investigation in Russia.