Poland and Belarus renew contacts at foreign minister level, Sikorski allows for normalization of relations

Poland allows for the gradual unfreezing of relations with Belarus after years of an effective freeze in diplomatic contacts. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski held a meeting in New York with his Belarusian counterpart Maksim Ryzhenkov—contacts at this level between the countries had not occurred, according to the Polish side, approximately since 2016.

RMF24 reports on the meeting. The talks took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and concerned the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border and regional security.

Sikorski emphasized that this was a first introductory meeting, but contacts between the two countries are also already taking place between other agencies and at lower levels. Poland plans to open a new embassy building in Minsk in the near future.

According to the Polish minister, Warsaw is ready to respond to signals from Minsk about a desire to improve relations. At the same time, he did not call the process a full normalization and made it clear that its further development will depend on the actions of the Belarusian side.

One of the topics of the meeting was the use of Belarusian airspace. Sikorski confirmed that during the negotiations the issue of preventing Russian missiles and drones from flying through Belarusian territory was raised.

This topic remains relevant for the entire eastern flank of NATO. On September 15, fighter jets of the Alliance's air defense mission shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus. Explosives were found at the crash site. The type and origin of the aircraft after the incident were still being determined.

Sikorski also mentioned among the factors that create opportunities for dialogue the more stable situation on the border and the release of political prisoners by the Belarusian authorities.

In particular, on April 28, after more than five years of imprisonment in Belarus, Polish-Belarusian journalist and activist Andrzej Poczobut was released. His release occurred as part of an exchange involving Poland and with diplomatic assistance from the United States.

Dialogue between Minsk and Western countries has also intensified in recent months. On September 16, the Belarusian authorities released another 25 prisoners as part of an agreement with the United States. In response, Washington agreed to lift sanctions against two Belarusian state companies—"Lakokraska" and "Bellesbumprom".

This was not the first such agreement in 2026. According to the Associated Press, since the beginning of the new stage of American-Belarusian contacts, Minsk has released hundreds of political prisoners in exchange for partial easing of sanctions. At the same time, the human rights center "Viasna" as of mid-September continued to consider 887 people to be political prisoners, so the opposition warns against interpreting the latest releases as a fundamental change in the domestic policy of the Belarusian authorities.

Relations between Poland and Belarus sharply deteriorated after the 2020 presidential elections in Belarus and subsequent repressions, and since 2021 an additional source of tension has been the migration crisis on the border. After the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, Minsk also allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory for military operations.

Based on materials from: RMF24, Associated Press, Ministry of Defence of Lithuania