Why did Poland not participate in the summit in Geneva? “We take part in various formats of these talks, and not all of them are meaningful. There were Ukrainian-American discussions, and we are fully aware of what happened, because we remain in constant contact with the Ukrainians,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Władysław T. Bartoszewski. Earlier, Donald Tusk claimed that he learned about the Geneva arrangements from the German chancellor.
Sunday’s meeting in Geneva, focused on a 28-point peace plan for Ukraine proposed by the United States, brought together representatives of the informal E3 group (France, Germany, the United Kingdom), as well as the EU, the United States and Ukraine. The talks, assessed as “extremely fruitful”, continued on Monday. However, there were no representatives of the Polish government in Geneva.
During his visit to the 7th European Union – African Union summit in Angola on Monday, Donald Tusk said that the German chancellor informed him “about the details of his conversation with President Trump” and about “his assessment of Russia’s economic situation and the negotiations that took place in Geneva.” Explaining the absence from the meeting in Geneva, Tusk stated that he expects “greater activity from President Nawrocki.”
Today on Radio Zet, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Władysław T. Bartoszewski, was asked why Poland did not take part in the talks in Geneva.
“There are various formats of these conversations… we participate in other formats, and negotiations on this have been ongoing. Yesterday, EU foreign ministers held debates,” he replied.
Then the following exchange took place:
Host: So Poland didn’t want to take part in these talks in Geneva?
Bartoszewski: We didn’t take part because we don’t participate in all formats.
Host: But did we want to take part?
Bartoszewski: I haven’t heard of such intentions.
Host: Who organized this meeting?
Bartoszewski: To be honest, I don’t know. This is not what I handle within the MFA. I have several colleagues who deal with this.
Host: I’m asking who organized it because it’s important – who didn’t invite us, or who didn’t want us there.
Bartoszewski: I won’t answer that question. We take part in various formats of these talks, and not all of them are meaningful. There were Ukrainian-American discussions, and we are fully aware of what happened, because we remain in constant contact with the Ukrainians.