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Polish FM to seek U.S. assistance in retrieving plane wreckage from Russia

Xinhua, April 13, 2017 Adjust font size:

Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said that during his visit to Washington next week he would ask for U.S. help to retrieve from Russia the wreckage of a Polish presidential plane that crashed in 2010, Polish public television TVP reported Thursday.

"I have been invited to Washington by (U.S.)Secretary of State Rex Tillerson," Waszczykowski told TVP.

"We will, first of all, talk about bilateral cooperation, military cooperation, about security in our part of Europe," the Polish minister said.

They are also to discuss Russia's return to Poland of the wreckage of the presidential plane that crashed near Smolensk, western Russia, on April 10, 2010, killing all 96 people on board. Several important Polish figures died in the crash, including then President Lech Kaczynski and his wife.

"We are still waiting for support from our allies on this matter," Waszczykowski stressed. "I will certainly present the whole issue of the Smolensk disaster and our diplomatic struggle to get the wreckage back, and I will ask for assistance," the minister said.

Seven years ago, a Polish government plane, Tupolev Tu-154, crashed near a military airfield in Smolensk. Among the victims were dozens of senior government officials and military commanders.

The delegation was underway to nearby Katyn in western Russia to attend events commemorating Polish victims of Katyn executions in 1940. Endit