Zbigniew Rau made the comment after a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium on Monday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The regular get-together, dubbed the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), this time focused on the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Western Balkan states and other current affairs, according to officials.
UE military assistance mission for Ukraine
Afterwards, Poland’s top diplomat told reporters that he and his EU colleagues had agreed on a legal framework for the EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine), which is set to provide training for Ukrainian troops.
The Polish foreign minister said: “Now we know for sure that the mission will operate in Poland, as well as in Germany and any other country that will take on such responsibility.”
He added that “Our Ukrainian guests will be trained in Poland by Polish instructors as well as instructors from other EU countries.”
‘Many countries would swap armed forces with Ukraine’
Rau stated: “The Ukrainians need to be prepared for combat, but all evidence - including in the past week - suggests that they are very well prepared. These are very professional armed forces. Many countries, including the bigger ones, would happily swap armies with Ukraine today.”
9th package of sanctions against Russia: Poland's proposals
Poland’s top diplomat was also asked about the EU’s new, 9th, package of punitive measures against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
He replied: “Poland hopes the package will be adopted by the end of this month,” as cited by IAR.
Rau said that work on the new package had “stalled” recently, with some of the member states, including Poland and the Baltic countries, becoming impatient with the delay.
He added that such a response was “understandable given what is happening in Ukraine.”
Poland’s foreign minister stressed: “We and the Baltic states are always the first [to propose sanctions] and our proposals are the most comprehensive.”
Rau noted that Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia had called for sanctions to be slapped on Russia’s political parties, more military units, establishment figures and IT services, among other proposals.
He told reporters: “It’s always the case that you have to put something on the table and then build a coalition of support for the proposal; the more determined the authors of these proposals are, the bigger the chance that the measures will be adopted.”
Tuesday is day 265 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Source: IAR, PAP, consilium.europa.eu