Polish foreign minister holds rare meeting with Belarusian counterpart, discusses 'improving relations'
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Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski met with his Belarusian counterpart Maxim Ryzhenkov at the United Nations to discuss regional security, Polish media reported on Sept. 23.
Poland and Belarus have had a fraught diplomatic relationship in recent years as Warsaw blasted Minsk over espionage, engineering a migrant crisis at the Polish border, and Belarusian support for Russia's all-out war against Ukraine.
However, Sikorski justified the meeting with Ryzhenkov, saying that it took place on "neutral territory" and that "when a neighbor wants to thaw and improve relations, Poland is always the first to agree."
According to Sikorski, the two discussed the border situation between their countries and regional security. The meeting marks the first high-level talks between the two countries' foreign ministers in a decade.
Sikorski also credited a more stable border situation in recent months and the release of political prisoners as "greater reasons" to try to "stabilize" relations. He further announced that Poland would soon open a new embassy building in Minsk.
The Polish chief diplomat nevertheless cautioned against the idea that the Polish government is recognizing the regime of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, saying that "as a state, we recognize other states, not governments."
After Lukashenko declared victory in the 2020 presidential election, which was widely marred by accusations of voter fraud, Poland took in a large number of Belarusian exiles. Tensions escalated in 2021 when Belarus engineered a migrant crisis at its border with Poland, drawing international condemnation.
Since 2022, Belarus has also been a key military ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine and has sparked security concerns along NATO's eastern flank. Poland has scrambled fighter jets on more than one occasion in response to Russian missile and drone strikes on western Ukraine, due to the threat of hostilities spilling into Polish territory.
The ministers met as just Warsaw raises the alarm over the risk of Russian cross-border aerial incursions and hybrid attacks against NATO territory.
