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Polish upper-house Speaker discusses Ukraine aid with US assistant secretary of state

02.02.2023 22:00
Poland's upper-house Speaker Tomasz Grodzki has met with the US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, Karen Donfried, to discuss further support for Ukraine as it battles to fend off Russia's invasion, officials said. 
Polands Senate Speaker Tomasz Grodzki and the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Karen Donfried, meet in Warsaw on Thursday, January 2, 2023.
Poland's Senate Speaker Tomasz Grodzki and the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Karen Donfried, meet in Warsaw on Thursday, January 2, 2023. PAP/Radek Pietruszka

Grodzki and Donfried also discussed Polish-American relations and “compliance with fundamental values” in Poland when they met in Warsaw on Thursday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

Also present was the US ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski, according to officials. 

Grodzki, who is Speaker of the Polish Senate, told reporters afterwards that Donfried “knows Poland well” as a former longtime head of the US think tank the German Marshall Fund.  

Support for Ukraine

Grodzki said that Thursday’s meeting focused on "several topics,” including “the war in Ukraine and the role of Poland and the US” in supporting the war-torn country.

He added: “But we also discussed the rule of law, minority rights and predictions regarding parliamentary elections, which are due to take place in the autumn.” 

Grodzki said he and Donfried had agreed that “close cooperation with our main ally, the US, as well as within NATO and the European Union, is the best way to ensure a victorious ending to the war in Ukraine.”

Preparations 'in progress' for Biden to visit Poland

Grodzki told reporters that Donfried "has relayed a message from President Joe Biden, namely that the president values Poland enormously as an ally amid the war in Ukraine, and that he is also pleased that Poland remains in the free world family and looks very closely at whether the fundamental values that bind us, namely the rule of law, respect for minorities, for the LGBT community, for the free media, are being complied with.”    

Grodzki also said that preparations were "in progress" for Biden’s planned visit to Poland, but added that it was “too early to discuss” the trip "for security reasons, among other things." 

Thursday was day 344 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

(pm/gs)

Source: PAP, state.gov, forsal.pl