Cooling-off between Russia and Poland linked with Russia-EU problems - Polish diplomat
MOSCOW. June 26 (Interfax) - The current cooling-off of Russian-Polish relations is not a bilateral problem, but a problem of relations between Russia and the European Union, Poland's Ambassador to Moscow Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz said at a meeting with Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the Federation Council's Foreign Affairs Committee.
The current cooling-off period between Russia and Poland began more than a year ago, she said, citing the strategic situation in the region and especially Russia's policy in Ukraine and Crimea among the reasons.
Poland believes that the security situation in our region has seriously deteriorated, the ambassador said.
However, Warsaw sees dialogue as 'the main resource' and believes that it is necessary to hold such dialogue and meetings, the ambassador said.
Contact is important because it helps tackle the conflict and settle the situation in general, she said.
Kosachyov, for his part, said, opening the meeting, that relations between Russia and Poland "are at a freezing point, including between our parliaments."
"Today we have no direct dialogue with the Foreign Affairs Committee of Poland's Senate, even thought we are ready for such dialogue. But our Polish colleagues have not displayed their interest in it," he said.
Among the countries that criticize Russia and are wary of it, "Poland has the most hard-line position toward our country that cannot always be explained," the Russian senator said. Due to its hard-line approach, Poland stands out among other countries, including EU states, he said.
Kosachyov told reporters after the meeting that the discussions "were quite tough".
"We discussed almost the entire range of issues between Russia and Poland, common European problems linked with Russia-EU relations, as well as NATO. Great attention was given to the situation in Ukraine and its south-east. The conversation was quite tough," Kosachyov said, adding that Russia and Poland continue to disagree on a large number of issues.
"Mrs. Ambassador articulated Poland's approaches, which are well known to us. I do not think that we managed to persuade each other to change our mind on some matters, but, in any case, we agreed that today there are far fewer channels of communication between Russia and Poland than there should be, even despite our disagreements," the Russian senator said, adding inter-parliamentary contact should become one such channel.
"Mrs. Ambassador also listened to me when I said that Poland has the most radical position with regard to Russia. And she promised to convey our concerns to our colleagues in the Polish parliament," Kosachyov said.