During their meeting, Sikorski and Barrot discussed preparations for the 2nd Poland-France summit planned for February, a joint cultural season next year and growing trade and investment between the two countries, according to the Polish foreign ministry.
"Poland is interested in deepening dialogue with France," Sikorski told a joint news conference, describing bilateral relations as particularly close since the two countries signed a treaty on enhanced cooperation and friendship in the French city of Nancy last year.
He said France was Poland's third-largest trading partner and fourth-largest foreign investor, with French companies employing about 227,000 workers in Poland.
Sikorski said Warsaw and Paris were also working closely within the E5 format, which brings together Poland, France, Germany, Italy and Britain, adding that the grouping better reflects Europe's regional balance than the smaller E3 grouping of France, Germany and Britain.
He also pointed to the so-called "Coalition of the Willing," a group of countries supporting Ukraine, saying it would announce important decisions at a meeting in Paris on Monday.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the meeting during the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday.
Barrot, who was a guest of honour at Poland's annual conference of ambassadors, said Europe must respond to growing instability and violence in international affairs by strengthening its strategic autonomy while remaining committed to democratic values.
"Europe cannot afford to give up or renounce its values," Barrot said, citing Russia's attacks on residential areas in Kyiv as evidence of growing disregard for international law.
He said strategic autonomy was essential to protect Europe from the rivalry between global powers and argued that Poland and France share a special responsibility for strengthening Europe's security architecture.
Barrot said the friendship treaty signed in Nancy in May last year reflected the two countries' shared commitment to building "a safer, more sovereign, more democratic and more united Europe."
He also highlighted France's military support for Poland, noting that French Rafale fighter jets were deployed after Russian drones briefly entered Polish airspace last September, prompting NATO's Eastern Sentry mission to reinforce the alliance's eastern flank.
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Source: IAR, PAP