Foreign ministers of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania agree to strengthen Lublin Triangle role in Central Europe

The ministers exchanged views on a wide range of issues important for the region and outlined areas for further trilateral cooperation within the Lublin Triangle.

“The Triangle was born in Lublin and matured in Kyiv. Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania have all the opportunities to turn the Lublin Triangle into an important player in our Central European region,” Kuleba said.

The three ministers discussed the current COVID-19 situation in the Lublin Triangle countries, the vaccination of the population, as well as possible ways of cooperation in this area. Kuleba thanked for the initiative of certain EU states, in particular Lithuania and Poland, to call on the European institutions to establish a mechanism of vaccine transfer to the Eastern Partnership countries.

The Ukrainian minister expressed his gratitude to Poland and Lithuania for their unwavering support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, and their strong condemnation of Russia's aggression against our state. Poland and Lithuania reaffirmed their continued support for Ukraine's EU and NATO membership aspirations.

Kuleba informed about Ukraine's efforts to de-occupy the Crimean peninsula and preparations for the launch of the Crimean Platform. The foreign ministers of Lithuania and Poland welcomed the initiative and reaffirmed their states’ readiness to take part in its inaugural summit in Kyiv in August 2021.

An important topic of discussion was the coordination of the Lublin Triangle efforts in Central Europe in the context of the new US administration policies. The parties agreed that a deeper involvement of the United States in the cooperation with the region would play a key role in strengthening transatlantic ties, protecting sustainable development, freedom and democracy in Europe.

A separate topic of discussion was political crisis in Belarus and the prospects for its solution. Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was invited to join that segment of the discussion. She informed of the current situation in her country. The three ministers reaffirmed their solidarity with the Belarusian people and expressed interest in future cooperation of the Lublin Triangle with a democratic Belarus.

The ministers identified coordination and close cooperation at the level of diplomatic missions within international organizations, such as the UN, OSCE, or CoE, on issues important to the Central European region as one of the main areas of further cooperation within the Lublin Triangle.

The foreign ministers instructed the national coordinators to draft a roadmap for key initiatives and activities of the Lublin Triangle for 2021. Kuleba proposed holding a Summit of Heads of State of the Lublin Triangle in Kyiv in the second half of 2021.

In the end, the ministers approved a Lublin Triangle logo in order to promote it more widely in the world.

The Lublin Triangle was launched in July 2020 during a visit to the Polish city of Lublin by the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania, Dmytro Kuleba, Jacek Czaputowicz and Linas Linkevičius.