Zbigniew Rau made the comment after a meeting with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna in Warsaw, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
France’s new top diplomat came to Poland straight after visiting Kyiv, her first foreign trip, officials told reporters.
Referring to Colonna's trip to the Ukrainian capital, Rau said that "there is no more important thing in the world today than Ukraine’s defensive war against Russia’s totally unprovoked and unjustified aggression."
‘A defining moment in the history of Europe’
Rau told reporters: “It’s a defining moment in the history of Europe ... Nothing will be the same as before, either institutionally or politically.”
Rau said that “if the free world fails to stand up for freedom today, it will simply cease to deserve its name.”
He added that if the European Union, NATO and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) constitute “a community of values,” then “they can’t ignore the threat that Russia poses to these values.”
They also must “provide help for Ukraine, which is protecting its most basic rights,” Rau said.
Polish-French ties 'are of key importance'
Meanwhile, France’s Colonna stated that Polish-French ties “are of key importance.”
She added that the cooperation between the two countries within the EU and NATO “is indispensable, especially in the context of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
Besides support for Poland’s southeastern neighbour, the two foreign ministers discussed sanctions against Russia, EU candidate status for Ukraine and food security amid Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian seaports, officials told reporters.
Tuesday was day 97 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, gov.pl