Ukrainian and Polish foreign ministers had "friendly chat" in Warsaw

The Polish and Ukrainian foreign ministries have released contradictory statements regarding whether Polish Minister Radosław Sikorski met with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha during the latter’s visit to Poland this week.

The Polish news agency PAP released a statement from Paweł Wroński, spokesman for the Polish Foreign Ministry, clarifying that no talks between Sybiha and Sikorski had been planned at all.

Wroński added that the two ministers were expected to meet informally while attending a panel at the Warsaw Security Forum without any official talks scheduled. However, Sikorski was ultimately unable to participate in the panel due to his governmental responsibilities.

At the same time, Ukrainian diplomats insist that the ministers did meet.

"The meeting took place. Sybiha and Sikorski met in the evening, though it was not an official bilateral meeting but a friendly chat. The Ukrainian minister thanked Poland for its comprehensive assistance, and they discussed steps to further develop good neighbourly relations and further steps to resolve sensitive issues of the historical past," Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry stated.

During his visit to Warsaw, Sybiha met with Polish President Andrzej Duda, as well as the leaders of the Polish Sejm (lower chamber of the Polish parliament) and Senate (the parliament’s upper chamber), who, among other things, brought up the issue of exhuming the remains of victims of the Volyn tragedy.