"Deteriorating security situation around Ukraine". Poland's MFA chief met with Ukraine's president

Poland's Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau continued his visit in Ukraine on Friday. Among other places, he visited Kharkiv close to the border with Russia. In the afternoon, he met with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Rau revealed the topics they discussed after 4 pm at a press briefing.

The minister said he discussed "three issues" with Zelenskiy. "First one is the deteriorating security situation around Ukraine. The second was the question of functioning and future of the Normandy Format. Third (issue) is Polish priorities in the OSCE," he said. He specified that the precise topic was "functioning of a special monitoring mission in Ukraine".

Rau was asked if also discussed was the issue of his visit to Moscow planned for next week, as part of his mission as the OSCE chairman. "I've mentioned that I will be in Moscow, but we haven't discussed this issue," he replied.

Zbigniew Rau explained that his visit in Ukraine was taken cheifly under the framework of Poland's OSCE chairmanship.

"It was focused chiefly on the presence of the OSCE institution in Ukraine. I had a chance to look at the work currently carried out by the OSCE representatives, both in Kiev, and in Kharkiv. I have met many people here, very international crowd, all serving the cause of peace and security," Rau added.

"The scope of problems shown to me ranged from security, including cybersecurity, through economy issues, as far as social and humanitarian level, which was particularly interesting to me due to our priorities (...) of Polish OSCE chairmanship," he said.

The chief of Poland's diplomacy was also asked if any talks were ongoing regarding evacuation of Polish citizens from Ukraine.

"We are ready for any scenario. But we haven't discussed these issues here in Ukraine," Rau said.

Ukraine's president said in a tweet that together with Rau they they discussed "the peace process and the security situation".

"Discussed the peace process and the security situation with the current @OSCE Head, Minister of Foreign Affairs @RauZbigniew today in Kharkiv. Look forward to intensifying the TCG work and full unhindered implementation of the @OSCE_SMM mandate to guarantee peace in Donbas," Zelenskiy wrote.