Sikorski: Poland-Belarus relations could improve soon

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said Poland’s relations with Belarus could improve in the near future after he held talks with Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Sikorski confirmed the meeting and said discussions focused on the situation along the Polish-Belarusian border and broader regional security. He also confirmed that the use of Belarusian territory for the transit of Russian drones and missiles was raised during the talks.

“This is the first, introductory meeting, but meetings are also taking place with other ministries and at other levels. We will soon open a new embassy building in Minsk. When a neighbour wants to unfreeze and improve relations, Poland is always the first to reach an agreement,” Sikorski said.

He indicated that the meeting was part of broader contacts between Polish and Belarusian officials and said relations between the two countries had probably not been maintained at such a level since 2016.

“Now we have a more normalised situation at the border than in the past; of course, this is connected with the fact that successive governments invested in an effective border fence, but we also secured the release of political prisoners, in particular Andrzej Poczobut,” Sikorski said.

Sikorski has previously described the meeting as an initial, introductory contact rather than a formal restoration of relations. He also said Poland recognises states rather than governments, when asked whether the talks signalled recognition of the government in Minsk.

The meeting followed the release of Polish-Belarusian journalist and minority activist Andrzej Poczobut, who returned to Poland in September after more than five years of imprisonment in Belarus.

By Tamilla Hasanova