Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney is visiting Warsaw to meet his Polish counterpart Minister Zbigniew Rau and to speak to humanitarian organisations assisting those fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Mr Coveney told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that the biggest focus of his meetings today will be on discussing the refugee situation as a result of the war and "how Ireland can help and be more proactive both politically and from a humanitarian point of view".
He said he will be discussing sanctions and what further support the European Union can give to the Ukrainian military through the European Peace Facility "because it's likely that that commitment will be increased".
The minister said the "burden" of the number of refugees fleeing war must be shared among members of the European Union.
He said the generosity of Polish people towards the people coming from Ukraine has been "remarkable".
He said the number of Ukrainians that will be in Ireland within the next few weeks will reach around 21,000.
This will increase if the war continues, he said.
Mr Coveney said that Ireland will ensure that those who want to travel to Ireland can do so and that they are supported in that.
"We also try to plan for a collective EU response in terms of how other countries across the European Union can help Poland" in dealing with the number of refugees.
"We've got to ensure that that there is a collective response across the EU rather than expecting countries that border Ukraine to have to deal with the extraordinary pressures of dealing with those numbers of people."
Irish soldiers could be sent to Poland and logistical support will be offered to assist with the refugees, Mr Coveney said.
"If it's helpful to send a defence force team here, whether that's to register refugees, whether it's to manage logistics on the border, to manage transport systems that offer is certainly open," he said.
Mr Coveney said Ireland is in favour of "taking a maximalist approach towards sanctions" but it is important to "ensure that we try to keep unity across the EU".
"I expect as the war continues, the EU will want to continue to increase the deterrent to the Kremlin for continuing this war. And that means tougher sanctions".
Ireland willing to be a mediator
Mr Coveney said Ireland is "more than willing" to be a mediator in brokering peace in the war in Ukraine.
However, he said "whether we have the capacity to do it, whether Russia would want that. It's hard to know."
He pointed out that there was a United Nations Security Council meeting in the last number of hours and "Russia had proposed what it seems is quite a cynical motion in relation to protecting civilians in the war in Ukraine" but "it's just hard to know who the Kremlin will listen to right now.
"That's why I think there has been some efforts within the UN to try to put pressure on China, India and Turkey to use the influence that they have in Washington or in Moscow because they clearly have more influence than others to try and bring this madness to an end."
Ireland is looking at every platform it can to try to make a constructive contribution towards bringing about peace, he said.
