Russia”s foreign minister will visit Poland on Thursday to discuss U.S. missile shield plans, the Georgia conflict, and ties with the EU.
During his one-day working visit to Warsaw, Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to meet with his Polish counterpart, Radoslaw Sikorski, and Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
The meeting will focus on “main issues of developing the international situation and the issues of European security, as well as the topics where the positions of our countries differ,” ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.
Nesterenko added that “this concerns, in particular, the assessment of the consequences of Mikheil Saakashvili”s aggression against the people of South Ossetia and Russian peacekeepers.”
Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia on August 26, two weeks after it had concluded its operation “to force Georgia to peace,” saying the move was needed to protect the regions following Georgia”s August 8 offensive against South Ossetia.
Media reports said Lavrov had cancelled his planned September visit to the country in mid-August after Warsaw had formally agreed to the deployment of 10 U.S. interceptor missiles on its territory.
However, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the foreign minister”s visit to Poland earlier this month.
Russia opposes the U.S. plans for a missile shield in Central Europe as a threat to its national security. Moscow earlier warned it would be forced to target its missiles at Poland if the former Soviet-bloc state hosted the interceptor missiles.
