Poland will stop supplying weapons to Ukraine to focus on its own defense, Poland’s prime minister said on Wednesday, just hours after Warsaw summoned its ambassador from Kiev. This is at a time when tension between the two countries is increasing due to Poland’s ban on the import of Ukrainian grains.
“We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now equipping Poland with more modern weapons,” said Mateusz Morawiecki, when asked by a journalist whether Warsaw would continue to support Kiev despite the lack of agreement on grain exports.
Poland is one of the countries that supported Ukraine after the Russian invasion in February 2022 and is one of Kiev’s main arms suppliers. The country is also home to approximately one million Ukrainian refugees, who have benefited from various types of state aid.
Tensions between Warsaw and Kiev, caused by Poland’s ban on the import of Ukrainian grains to protect farmers’ interests, have increased in recent days.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine closed Black Sea shipping routes used before the war, making the EU a major transit route and export destination for Ukrainian grains.
In May, the EU agreed to restrict imports to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, in a bid to protect farmers in countries who blamed imports for falling prices on local markets.
The measures allowed products to continue to travel through the five countries, but prevented them from being sold on the local market.
But on Friday the European Commission said it would end the import ban, arguing that “market distortions in the five member states bordering Ukraine have disappeared.”
Poland, Hungary and Slovakia immediately announced that they would defy the measure.
The issue is particularly sensitive in Poland, where elections will take place next month. The current right-wing government of the Law and Justice Party (PiS) has strong support in the agricultural regions.
“We were the first to do a lot for Ukraine and that is why we hope they understand our interests,” Morawiecki said to Polsat News this Wednesday. “Of course we respect all your problems, but for us the interests of our farmers are the most important thing,” he emphasized.
Kiev responded to warnings from Poland, Hungary and Slovakia by announcing it would file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO).
A Foreign Ministry statement said that “putting pressure on Poland in multilateral forums or filing complaints in international courts are not appropriate methods to resolve the differences between our countries.”
Kiev responded by calling on Poland to “leave emotions aside.” Polish authorities today summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to Warsaw, Vasil Zvarich, in protest against Volodymyr Zelensky’s words on the Ukrainian grain veto, leading to an escalation of criticism between the two countries.
The Foreign Ministry has indicated that its aim is to respond to the words of Zelensky, who stated during his visit to New York on the occasion of the United Nations General Assembly that “some countries are helping to prepare a stage for the rise of an actor from Moscow”.
In response, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki today threatened in statements to Polish channel Polsa to add more products to the list of blocked Ukrainian imports if Kiev “intensifies the conflict over this issue.”
The head of the Polish executive also published a video on his social networks in which he recalled that his country was “the first to do a lot for Ukraine” and therefore hopes that his interests are understood and promises to pursue them “with all determination” to defend. .
Poland, together with Hungary and Slovakia, decided to unilaterally extend the import ban on agricultural products from Ukraine, after Brussels lifted the restrictions imposed at the request of these countries on September 15.
In response, Ukraine filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday, which, Morawiecki noted today, “simply means that someone, in this case the Ukrainian side, does not understand the destabilization. [a entrada de produtos ucranianos] on the Polish agricultural market.
The verbal escalation between Poland and Ukraine intensified with Tuesday’s speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.
Later, Polish President Andrzej Duda responded to these statements, telling the press that “anyone who has ever taken part in rescuing a drowning person knows that this is extremely dangerous and can drag him into the depths”
Source: DN
