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The spokesperson of the Polish administration has expressed their disapproval of the suggestion from the Austrian foreign minister to ease the Western sanctions on Russia due to their illegal occupation of Ukraine.
At a Monday meeting with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg criticized Poland’s rejection of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s request to attend an OSCE meeting in Poland last year. It has been reported that Schallenberg also called for a loosening of European restrictions on Russia.
But Piotr Mueller, the Polish government spokesman, told PAP on Thursday that “Poland maintains its stance on Russian sanctions.”
According to Mueller, only consistent Western policy in this respect may force Moscow to change its course.
“Every attempt to close one’s eyes to Russian crimes under the guise of returning to the normal functioning of economic relations is a huge mistake,”
he added.
“It was the very model of building ill-conceived links with Russia in energy policy that led to the war,”
Mueller said.
The refusal to grant a visa meant that Lavrov was unable to attend the OSCE Ministerial Council sitting in the city of Lodz last December.