"Europe needs lively German-Polish friendship and deep trust between Warsaw and Berlin"

The Weimar Triangle, an alliance between Germany, France and Poland, met last in March 2022, a meeting which was dominated by the Ukraine war.

"It (Sikorski's visit to Germany) is an important step towards normalising our relationship. It is important to me that we maintain constructive cooperation within the European family and within the framework of NATO. We will work together to find policy areas in which we can achieve something together, bilaterally, as well as at European and international level," head of Polish diplomacy said at the briefing.

Sikorski, who took office in December as part of the newly formed government under prime minister Donald Tusk, said he was hoping for a parliamentary decision on a 5 billion euro package for Ukraine this year. "We will also talk about the reconstruction of Ukraine", he added.

Warsaw has been a close ally of Kyiv during Russia's war in Ukraine, but relations were dealt a blow last year by a dispute over grain imports.

"The plan to rebuild the last European empire must not succeed. We in Poland do indeed feel more at risk because of the Russian presence just 250 kilometres from Warsaw, but here in Berlin we are also within range of the Iskander missile, which also has a long range of 500 kilometres. These nuclear warheads can also be aimed at Berlin. The war in Ukraine has made it clear that the Weimar Triangle can be an important forum for cooperation - and the Triangle can be a source of good ideas for the future of the European Union," chief of Polish MFA stressed.

Sikorski signalled his intention to put ties back on a stronger footing by visiting Ukraine in December shortly after his appointment to the new Western-looking government, and the new government has announced a new aid package for Kyiv.

"We agree that a strong Europe can also provide the correct European framework for our defence," Baerbock said.

"We want to work on this together with France in the Weimar Triangle. Now with even more strength and vigour. You (Sikorski) have already had intensive talks about his with our French colleague (French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné) and we will soon have the opportunity to discuss this in greater depth between the three of us," she added.

Baerbock added she was "very much looking forward to this personally". "Because a strong Europe, whose centre will continue to move eastwards in the coming years, needs more than ever a lively German-Polish friendship and deep trust between Warsaw and Berlin."

"A new reality, a different world, the signs of which you in Poland have long recognised. Because for the people of Poland, Putin's Russia is literally within their reach," the German foreign minister said.

"Today we all realise that the security of Poland, the security of the Baltic states, is the security of us all. We defend this security together as allies in NATO."