Prime Minister discussed aid to Ukraine with UK Foreign Secretary
05.04.2022
The main topics discussed during the meeting between Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss were issues concerning aid, humanitarian support and European security. This is another meeting with representatives of the country's authorities on aid to our eastern neighbour. The last one took place in March 2022 and concerned, among other things, strengthening cooperation and coordination between the two countries in connection with the situation in Ukraine. The Prime Minister stressed that the unity of the West and cooperation of the entire free and democratic world are now more important than ever.
European security
During the discussions, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki expressed hope for continued intensive, results-oriented bilateral cooperation within NATO. He thanked the UK for its immediate action to strengthen the allied presence on the eastern flank and pointed to the need to sustain and extend it.
The head of government of Poland stressed that our goal is not to have a "diplomatic solution" to the conflict. It is to bring about Russia's withdrawal from Ukraine and to restore the full territorial integrity of the country. He added that we should do everything to support Ukraine.
Humanitarian aid
The talks also focused on assessing the need for assistance for Ukrainian refugees and the possibility of UK support. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stressed that a crisis on such a large scale involes bearing huge costs that no country can cover alone. Poland is ready for long-term engagement and support for Ukraine and Ukrainians. However, there are limited possibilities. Therefore, in order to be able to meet this challenge, the support of other countries is vital.
The United Kingdom declares to take further action, including funding countries that receive and provide aid to the refugees in European Union Member States or other countries that decide to do so. Since 24 February, 2.5 million war refugees have crossed the Polish border. We expect that, depending on changing scenarios, several million more may arrive in our country. The number of displaced persons in Ukraine exceeds 6.5 million, and more than 3.6 million have fled to Europe.
Further sanctions against Russia
The Prime Minister pointed to the need to continue efforts to undermine the foundations of the Russian economy, including sanctions targeted at Russia's strategic energy projects, excluding banks from SWIFT and imposing a total trade ban.
The head of government of Poland thanked the UK foreign secretary for her international commitment to putting pressure on Moscow, both in terms of sanctioning and isolating it. He stressed that we should be ready to respond and no options should be ruled out, including the seizure of Russian assets that could be used to rebuild Ukraine.
Poland is currently working on legislation for a new internal legal framework that would stop the import of coal from Russia and the Russian-occupied Donbass and Luhansk regions to Poland.
