Polish Foreign Minister: meeting between Putin and Duda is possible
Polish President Andrzej Duda can meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, stated the Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz in an interview for the newspaper Kommersant.
“I am sure that the meetings between our leaders should take place. First, the meetings should be well prepared at the interdepartmental level," he said. Czaputowicz noted that despite consultations at the level of deputy foreign ministers, they cannot yet organize even a meeting of the Foreign Ministers. This is because of “disagreements on different issues," including the situation in the south-east of Ukraine and the Crimea’s annexation by Russia.
The Polish Foreign Minister stressed that Kyiv is an “essential ally” for Warsaw and that Poland respects Ukraine’s “European choice."
Putin last met with the Polish President Bronisław Komorowski in 2011. The Russian leader did not meet with President Duda, who assumed his post in 2015. Duda did not congratulate Putin on his election victory in March 2018 and did not visit the FIFA World Cup in Russia.