Ukraine, Poland governments call for energy embargo on Russia

This is stated in a joint statement adopted following the Ukrainian-Polish Intergovernmental Consultations on June 1, published on the Government portal.

As noted, the parties “called on the international community to step up sanctions against the Russian Federation, including imposing embargo on Russian energy supplies and next restrictions on road and sea transport.”

Moreover, the parties noted the importance of further directing the efforts of the Governments of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland to strengthen the strategic partnership, develop cooperation between the two friendly countries and fraternal nations on the basis of mutual respect and understanding. The governments also reaffirmed their readiness to continue joint efforts to end the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine and to restore Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

According to the statement, the parties noted the importance of investigating the crimes committed by the Russian side against the Ukrainian state and the civilian population, for which the aggressor country should be held accountable; coordinated further steps of cooperation between governments on the international agenda, in particular within international organizations; noted the importance of continuing the joint efforts with the like-minded partners including the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the EU and NATO Member States in order to counter the imminent threats for the security situation in the region.

The parties noted the mutual interest of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland in developing cooperation within multilateral fora (including international financial institutions) involved in the emergency support to Ukraine and its neighbors in response to the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine; stressed the importance of increasing military, financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

As noted, Poland will assist in expanding the capacity of ports, railway and road infrastructure in order to supply Ukraine with the necessary goods, including fuel.

The parties reaffirmed their readiness to actively engage all necessary bilateral and multilateral instruments to ensure granting Ukraine the status of a candidate country for membership in the European Union during the European Council meeting on 23-24 June 2022; reaffirmed the need to promote and support the creation of EU and international financial institutions financial instruments, aimed at supporting Ukraine in the current juncture and the post-war reconstruction and modernisation.

“The Polish side reaffirmed its strong support for Ukraine's membership in the European Union and NATO which corresponds to the free democratic choice of the Ukrainian people,” reads the statement.

The parties noted the mutual interest in developing cooperation within regional formats and initiatives, including the Lublin Triangle and the Polish-Ukrainian-British format; confirmed their readiness for active cooperation in the reconstruction of Ukraine in the postwar period. Poland will focus its reconstruction efforts on Kharkiv region.

In the statement, the parties identified priorities of Ukrainian-Polish cooperation on the bilateral agenda, in particular in the military-technical (it will guarantee inter alia a basic aviation course for 60 Ukrainian candidates for pilots), defense-industrial, trade-economic, in various technology areas, energy and other spheres.

In order to intensify the cooperation, Polish Institute in Kyiv will restart its operations on 1 June and the Consulate General of Poland in Lutsk will reopen on 1 July.

The need to deepen cooperation in the field of cybersecurity, digitalization, countering misinformation and various types of hybrid threats and to cooperate on mitigating risks for regional and global food security was underscored.

Poland confirmed its commitment to swiftly implement the MoU on strengthening cooperation in the railway sector signed on 23 April 2022 to support Ukrainian exports of food products and stressed its readiness to support the agricultural production capacities of Ukraine in order to maximize the harvests in the upcoming season; Ukraine confirmed its readiness to provide all information necessary to operationalize such support.

In the statement, the parties stressed the importance of the temporary suspension of import duties on all Ukrainian exports to the European Union. The Ukrainian side agreed not to impose any restrictive measures on imports from Poland and committed to cooperate with the Polish side on lifting existing restrictions for imports of goods from Poland to Ukraine, including imports of agricultural products.

Ukraine and Poland agreed to intensify cooperation in order to increase the efficiency of the border checks on the Ukrainian-Polish state border. For that purpose, the Ukrainian-Polish Working Group has been established. A pilot program aiming at the sharp increase of shared check posts at Krakovets-Korczowa border crossing will be launched in June.

To this end, the parties agreed on steps to be taken for an agreement between Ukraine and Poland on enhanced cooperation of border authorities, including on control in shared border crossing points to be signed as soon as possible.

The governments agreed that the Republic of Poland will support the accession of Ukraine to the Convention of 20 May 1987 on a common transit procedure, and the Convention of 20 May 1987 on the simplification of formalities in trade in goods, including the use of the NCTS, and declares any support needed by Ukraine.

Among other things, the parties stated the need to increase activities of institutional mechanisms, in particular, holding in the near future meetings of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation and the Intergovernmental Coordinating Council on Interregional Cooperation, as well as resuming cooperation between the National Memory Institutes of Ukraine and Poland.

According to the document, the Governments of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland exercise their task to further bring together the Ukrainian and Polish peoples, who have shown a high level of solidarity, support and unity and are going together through the atrocities of war, as well as facilitate creating a solid foundation for the new European future of both nations; as part of assistance to the victims of Russian aggression, Klemens Szeptycki Foundation, caring for the orphans of soldiers fallen in defense of Ukraine and providing assistance to the women liberated from captivity, will launch its operations in July in Kyiv.

The parties agreed to jointly celebrate in 2023 the 160th anniversary of the beginning of the January Uprising of 1863-1864, in which our nations fought together against the Russian Empire. The parties commended the initiative of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to submit to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine the draft Law "On the establishment of legal and social guarantees for citizens of the Republic of Poland staying in Ukraine", as an expression of gratitude for the adoption of the Law of the Republic of Poland "On assistance to the citizens of Ukraine due to the armed conflict in this country".

The next meeting of the Ukrainian-Polish intergovernmental consultations will be held in Warsaw in 2023.

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