Polish development and tech minister tells US counterpart to kick Russia out of international body
Ukrainians fleeing war arrive in Poland © Getty Images / Omar Marques
Development and technology minister Piotr Nowak insisted Russia should be replaced by Poland on the G20 international forum on Monday during a meeting with US trade representative Katherine Tai.
The minister followed up his claim with a tweet arguing that “by invading Ukraine, Russia violated the principles of international cooperation, which is a basis for its exclusion from organizations that guarantee international economic and financial stability.”
Nowak then called for Russia to be removed not only from the G20 but also the Financial Stability Board, arguing there was “no place for it” on either transnational entity. “As the world’s second fastest-growing country over the past 30 years, Poland certainly deserves a place in G20,” he said. Poland is the 21st-largest economy in the world, according to the World Bank.
Russia has left some international bodies, such as the Council of Europe, while it remains part of others, including the International Monetary Fund.
Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki visited Kiev with the leaders of the Czech Republic and Slovenia on Tuesday in a show of “solidarity” – as well as to present another aid package from the EU. Weapons and other forms of military aid have been flowing into Ukraine from NATO countries as the fighting in the country reaches its third week.
Poland and the US have also argued over how to get a group of MiG-29 planes to Ukraine, but neither Warsaw nor Washington has thus far been willing to risk Russia bombing whichever NATO territory (or ally) is used to fly the planes into Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a no-fly zone over western Ukraine, another request NATO has denied him, with the US arguing it could potentially trigger World War 3.
