US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken traveled to Poland on Saturday, where he met with the country’s prime minister and foreign minister in a Polish city near the Ukrainian border. Blinken also arrived in Ukraine during talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.
What do we know so far?
The visit comes as Poland has seen an unprecedented wave of Ukrainian refugees fleeing their homeland as a result of the Russian invasion.
“Poland is doing vital work to respond to this crisis … It has done a lot to facilitate aid to Ukraine,” Blinken told a joint news conference with Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau in Rzeszow.
“The people of Poland know how important it is to defend freedom,” he added.
Rau said Poland is committed to accepting refugees regardless of nationality, race or religion. “The attack on Ukraine has already transformed Europe and its sense of security,” he said.
Since the start of the invasion on February 24, Russia has claimed that it is conducting only “a special military operation” in Ukraine. But its troops are now threatening Ukraine’s major cities and its forces are trying to encircle the capital in an attempt to seize it.
Blinken arrived in Poland from Brussels, where he met with the foreign ministers of the NATO, G7 and EU military alliances to discuss efforts to deter Russia through a system of harsh sanctions.
So far, NATO members have provided military assistance to Ukraine, with much of the aid going through Poland.
However, the alliance rejected Ukraine’s demands for a no-fly zone over the country. NATO fears that a no-fly zone could provoke a much wider and even more dangerous conflict.
Blinken, Kuleba walk in Ukraine
Crossing the border with Ukraine, Blinken praised Kuleba, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials for their courage and “inspired” leadership. He said US support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia would increase “until the end of this war of choice.”
Kuleba thanked the top US diplomat for his support, adding that Ukraine needed more if its predicted victory did not come at a high cost. He regrets that NATO on Friday rejected calls from non-members of Ukraine and others to establish a no-fly zone over the country.
“We are now in a phase where we may say ‘no, we are not going to do it,’ but the time will come,” Kuleba said. “It is again a matter of honor. It is the people of Ukraine who will pay the price for NATO’s reluctance to act.”
Blinken meets refugees
The top diplomat visited a reception center in the town of Korczowa, near the border with Ukraine, which was set up by the Polish authorities to house some 3,000 Ukrainian refugees.
Washington has said it is preparing to allocate about $ 2.75 billion (€ 2.5 billion) for the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
Blinken spoke to some of the refugees and heard horrific stories of a dangerous journey out of Ukraine from mothers and their children.
A family from Kharkiv told Blinken that they had traveled about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) to Poland from the besieged city, where they said they saw gunshots in the streets.
Another family who met Blinken said they walked for hours to escape from Kyiv, where they had seen the city bombed.
The United Nations has said more than a million people have fled Ukraine, with more than 700,000 currently in Poland.
jcg / wd (AP, Reuters)
Add Comment