Zbigniew Rau also said that this will be one of the priorities of Poland’s presidency of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2022.
"Poland will fully support all diplomatic efforts aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict in and around Ukraine in compliance with the Minsk Agreements and in full respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders,” Rau said told a meeting of the Permanent Council of the OSCE in Vienna on Thursday.
He addressed the gathering as Poland prepares to take over the chairmanship of the international organization next year.
Rau said that Poland wanted to strive for stability and security in the region as the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict has already claimed thousands of lives.
He highlighted the role of the OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, adding that it should be able to fully and effectively carry out its tasks.
He also pointed to the importance of the OSCE in mediation and conflict resolution, according to the Polish foreign ministry.
Rau said Poland's efforts would focus on strengthening security, but also on improving the situation of societies affected by conflicts.
Poland will take over the rotating chairmanship of the OSCE from Sweden on January 1, with Rau taking a role as the organization’s Chairperson-in-Office.
This is the second time that Poland will chair the organization, with its previous turn at the helm in 1998.
Polish deputy FM visits Ukraine
Meanwhile, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz visited Kiev on Thursday for talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Vasyl Bodnar.
The two discussed Ukraine’s security situation after NATO’s June summit, most of whose participants identified “Russia’s aggressive moves” as “a major threat,” according to the Polish foreign ministry.
Przydacz also talked with the head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, Yaşar Çevik, about challenges facing the body, where Poles form one of the largest groups of observers, officials told reporters.
The Polish embassy in Ukraine described the meeting as "very important" in the context of Poland’s upcoming OSCE presidency.
Marcin Przydacz. Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański
Przydacz also met with Andriy Sybiha, deputy head of the Ukrainian President’s Office. The two said they were “fully agreed” in their evaluation of “all the threats to security” posed by the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which many say Russia could use to cut out Ukraine as a gas transit route.
Przydacz and Sybiha also agreed on the need for further coordinated actions to stop the Nord Stream 2 project from being completed, according to a statement by the Ukrainian President’s Office.
During his Ukrainian visit, which runs until Sunday, Przydacz is also scheduled to discuss the security situation in the country’s rebel-controlled Luhansk region, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.
(mrs/gs)
Source: PAP
Click on the audio player above to listen to a report by Radio Poland's Michał Owczarek.