MOSCOW (AP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with his Polish counterpart Nov. 13 for talks on soothing strained relations between the two former Warsaw Pact allies.
In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry cited Polish Foreign Minister Stefan Meller as saying that Warsaw is trying to improve ties, which have been unsettled ever since Poland joined NATO.
Relations have also been uneasy because of Poland’s intervention in last year’s presidential elections in Ukraine, won by pro-Western opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko. Street violence against the children of Russian diplomats in Warsaw and Polish diplomats and a journalist in Moscow over the summer also strained ties between the two capitals.
And last week, Moscow imposed a ban on imports of meat and plant products from Poland, saying they were substandard.
“Russia is ready for return steps toward strengthening partnership with Poland in the spirit of good-neighborliness and respect of mutual interests,” Lavrov said at a dinner in honor of Meller, who was Poland’s ambassador to Russia until Oct. 31.
The Foreign Ministry said that the two diplomats “agreed that the political atmosphere does not correspond to the current level of economic, humanitarian and cultural cooperation and runs counter (to) major trends in Europe’s policy.”
