While in New York this week, the Polish foreign minister will take part in events held by the UN to mark two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
During his visit, Sikorski is scheduled to attend a UN Security Council debate on the war in Ukraine and a UN General Assembly meeting "on the situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," according to officials.
The itinerary of Sikorski's visit also includes a meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Poland's Permanent Mission to the UN has said.
Polish, US top diplomats to meet in Washington
After his stay in New York, Sikorski will head to Washington to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Sikorski and Blinken are expected to hold talks on Russia's war in Ukraine, Polish-American security cooperation, efforts to counter Russian disinformation, and preparations for NATO's summit in the US capital later this year.
While in Washington, the Polish foreign minister is scheduled to take part in a debate at the Atlantic Council think tank and meet with former US Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis and members of the US Congress.
Nearly two years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war continues to have devastating consequences for civilians and far-reaching effects on the global economy, the UN Security Council has said in a report published on its website.
By January 21, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had documented 29,731 civilian casualties, including 10,287 deaths, while noting that actual figures are likely to be considerably higher, according to the securitycouncilreport.org website.
Amid a humanitarian crisis, 40 percent of Ukraine's population—14.6 million people—is in need of humanitarian assistance, the report said. That figure includes 3.3 million people living in frontline communities, which are grappling with severe shortages of resources and constant bombardment, the UN Security Council added.
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around 10 million people have been forcibly displaced by the war, including 3.7 million internally displaced people and 6.3 million refugees who have fled from Ukraine to neighbouring countries.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, starting the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
Wednesday is day 728 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: IAR, PAP, UN Security Council