Sikorski to deliver message to Lavrov at G20 meeting

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has said he plans to pass a message to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the G20 ministerial meeting in the US state of Georgia. The G20 is a forum of the world's largest economies. Sikorski wants to repeat words he previously addressed to Lavrov at a UN Security Council session, concerning Russia's war against Ukraine, which has lasted five years. The Polish news agency PAP reported his remarks.

The message

Sikorski quoted his earlier words: "Sergei, tell your boss enough is enough. It's time to put an end to this. Five years of this bloody war – it has to stop."

Asked about an invitation to meet Lavrov, the minister replied that the situation is awkward for Poland. He said Warsaw would like Russia to behave like a member of the organisations to which it belongs and where certain rules apply. In his words, a member of a club must behave like a gentleman, and some, unfortunately, do not know how.

Topics of the meeting

Sikorski said the two-day ministerial meeting would concentrate on freedom of shipping, access to food, and energy issues. According to him, Poland has something to say on all three: freedom and safety of shipping in the Baltic Sea, critical infrastructure on the Baltic seabed, and the fact that grain from Ukraine and Europe is not reaching Egypt and other countries. He described the latter as one of the reasons why Russian aggression against Ukraine must stop.

Background

Lavrov has arrived in the US to take part in the meeting. On 23 September, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington had invited Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the G20 leaders' summit in Miami in December. The Kremlin said it appreciated the invitation and would decide on Putin's participation later. On 17 October, US President Donald Trump told reporters he did not know whether Putin would attend.