The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is set to visit Poland on Saturday to meet with Polish government officials and military leaders about Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Blinken is on a round of visits to European countries between March 3rd and March 8th including visits to Belgium, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. He will take part in NATO, EU and G7 meetings while there. His Poland trip will include meetings to discuss „security assistance”. The trip comes as Russia continues its invasion and onslaught of Ukrainian territory including shelling of training buildings at Europe’s largest nuclear facility in Zaporozhskaya in south-eastern Ukraine. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that no „essential equipment” had been damaged at the plant, adding that there has been „no change reported in radiation levels”, quoting the Ukraine regulatory authority.
Source – Polskie Radio, BBC News, iaea.org
President Andrzej Duda has thanked Poles for welcoming and helping refugees from war-torn Ukraine, saying in a nationwide address that the Polish people „have once again demonstrated what solidarity means.”
In his address Duda stressed that the Polish government and citizens „have been actively helping their neighbours from day one.” The Prime Ministers Office has also launched a website where people can report their readiness to help and also their need for help where. The URL is available on the Radio Gdańsk news website – http://pomagamukrainie.gov.pl. Duda also said in his address that Poland was championing Ukraine’s efforts to become a member of the European Union.
Source – Polskie Radio
The firm behind the now stalled Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany has denied it has gone bankrupt. In a press release the company said that it had been forced to terminate the contracts of all its staff due to US sanctions but added in a statement that „We cannot confirm the media reports that Nord Stream 2 has filed for bankruptcy”.
US President Joe Biden said last week that the United States would impose sanctions on the company in charge of building Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe by targeting the firm and its corporate officers. Germany last week halted the certification of the undersea pipeline. Poland has long criticized the Nord Stream 2 project, which is almost complete, amid concerns that it could make the European Union more dependent on Russian gas.
Source – Polskie Radio
Over a thousand people attended a rally of support in Gdynia yesterday in solidarity with Ukraine. Among the dozens of Polish and Ukrainian flags, historical, white, red and white Belarusian flags were also waving.
The rally and the march took place immediately after the extraordinary session of the Gdynia City Council, during which the city authorities decided to break cooperation with their partner cities – Russian Rybinsk and Kaliningrad, and Baranavichy in Belarus.
Source – Radio Gdańsk
Weather
Today will be a cloud day in a light breeze with temperatures of 3 degrees centigrade (37 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and -2 degrees overnight. Tomorrow will see sunny spells in a gentle breeze with temperatures of 1 degree during the day and -5 degrees overnight.
Martin Caren/MarWer
