Former US presidential advisor Brzeziński dies

“My father passed away peacefully tonight,” Brzeziński's daughter Mika Brzeziński said on Twitter.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said Brzeziński was once the voice of Free Poland in the White House "because he tirelessly sought for that freedom for us".

Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said: "The world has lost an outstanding intellectual, an experienced and effective diplomat but also a noble man and a proud Pole".

In a statement issued on Friday, Carter said his wife “Rosalynn and I are saddened by the death of Zbigniew Brzezinski”.

“He was an important part of our lives for more than four decades and was a superb public servant. Having studied [Brzeziński's] impressive background and his scholarly and political writings, I called on him to advise me on foreign policy issues during my first presidential campaign. I liked him immediately, and we developed an excellent personal relationship. He was inquisitive, innovative, and a natural choice as my national security advisor when I became president. He helped me set vital foreign policy goals, was a source of stimulation for the departments of defence and state, and everyone valued his opinion."

Brzeziński was born in Warsaw in 1928, studied in Canada and the US after World War Two, and in 1977 joined Carter's administration.

Under his advice, the US spent billions of dollars supporting Afghan militants during the Soviet-Afgan war of the 1980s.

After leaving the White House, Brzeziński remained an influential figure in Washinton.

In 1995 he was awarded Poland's highest state distinction, the Order of the White Eagle. (vb/pk)