Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau on Tuesday said that he had a "very truthful" conversation with his counterpart External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war while saying that the conflict is an attempt to restore the 'Russian empire'.
The Polish FM was addressing a press conference at the Polish embassy in New Delhi on the sidelines of his official visit to India.
"I had a very truthful conversation concerning the Russian aggression in Ukraine with your Foreign Minister and I am really impressed by the way we conducted this conversation because the minister was kind enough to (not only) listen to my arguments but also heard it," the Polish Minister said while answering a question on Polish assessment of India's role in the ongoing conflict.
"There is no doubt in my mind, that our assessment of the situation is very close. Both Poland and India have tragic experiences with Foreign imperialist(s), and it's difficult, very difficult not to see the present aggression against Ukraine as an attempt to restore the Russian empire," Rau further said.
During the press conference, Rau called the Russian invasion of Ukraine "brutal" and said that Russia's irresponsible actions in Ukraine blatantly trample over with principles of rules-based global order while also bringing serious implications for global security including energy and food security.
Talking about his visit to India, Rau said that he was "delighted" to pay his first official visit to India.
"The burning issue of Russia's aggression against Ukraine was one of the key topics touched up during my conversation with Prime Minister Modi as well as during discussions with Minister Jaishankar," Rau said.
"While Poland and India may differ in how we have reacted to the war in Ukraine, we believe, we still can build on common values, principles and interests including with promotion of a credible rules-based global order and effective multilateralism that we share," he added.
Talking about Ukrainian refugees in Poland and their future, Rau informed that Poland, as part of its policy, will allow the refugees to decide for themselves if they would prefer to stay in Ukraine or move to any other country. He also said that Poland would 'obviously' need financial assistance to deal with the refugee crisis, as the country has received over 3 million refugees in a matter of weeks.
The Polish Foreign Minister arrived in New Delhi on Monday for his two-day India visit during which he took part in bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart Jaishankar.
( With inputs from ANI )
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