US official in talks with Warsaw on Russia, Ukraine

Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza has reported that the main aim of the visit by Daniel Fried, a former US ambassador to Warsaw, was to warn Poland’s new Law and Justice (PiS) government to avoid conflict with the European Union. But neither Fried nor the Polish foreign ministry confirmed this.

The meeting between Fried, the US State Department’s Coordinator for Sanctions Policy, and Poland’s Marek Ziółkowski, Undersecretary of State at the foreign ministry, took place on Wednesday.

The talks “focused on exchanging... opinions about the effectiveness of restrictive measures imposed by the European Union, the United States and their partners on the Russian Federation in connection with its aggressive activities undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement.

Fried also held talks with Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymański.

“One of the purposes of their meeting was to coordinate Warsaw’s and Washington’s actions going forward aimed at peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in Donbas, supporting Ukraine’s pro-European development and reducing tensions in the Middle East region,” the Polish foreign ministry said.

Polish foreign policy analyst Eugeniusz Smolar recently wrote that Washington was concerned about the situation in Poland after the ruling PiS party pushed through controversial laws on the media and judiciary, and was sending Fried “to see what’s happening.”

The Polish government has faced a slew of international criticism over changes introduced by the Law and Justice party, which was elected in October. Critics say these moves undermine democracy, a charge PiS has hotly rebutted.

Senior Polish politicians have hit out at Brussels after the European Commission announced a probe into whether Poland's new laws violate EU standards. (pk)

Source: Gazeta Wyborcza/onet.pl/tvn24