Polish President Andrzej Duda sits next to Ukraine's UN Ambassador Serhiy Kislica Photo: Reuters
Poland said on Wednesday it would no longer arm Ukraine and instead focus on its own defense as the two allies clash at a key moment in Kiev's fight against a Russian invasion.
In a growing dispute over grain exports from Ukraine, Poland summoned Ukraine's ambassador to protest the president's remarks Vladimir Zelensky at the UN.
The Ukrainian leader said some countries were only pretending to support his country as it waged a counter-offensive to retake land seized by Russia. Warsaw took offense to this.
Poland has been one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters since the Russian invasion in February 2022 and is one of Kiev's main arms suppliers.
Most of the weapons the U.S. and other countries send passes to Ukraine through Poland, which borders Ukraine to the west.
Poland also hosts about a million Ukrainian refugees, who have benefited from various types of government assistance.
p>Tensions between Warsaw and Kiev arose due to Poland's ban on the import of Ukrainian grain in order to protect its own farmers.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was asked on Wednesday whether his country would continue to support Kiev despite the dispute.
“We are no longer supplying weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons.” weapons,” Mr. Morawiecki said.
EU transit route
Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to the closure of the Black Sea sea routes used before the war, leaving the EU as the main transit route and export destination for Ukrainian grain.
In May, the EU agreed to limit exports to Bulgaria. , Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, seeking to protect local farmers who blame these supplies for falling prices on local markets.
The measures allowed the product to continue transiting through the five countries but stopped it being sold on the local market.
But on Friday the European Commission said it was lifting the import ban, arguing that «market distortions in five member states, bordering Ukraine have disappeared.”
Poland, Hungary and Slovakia immediately announced that they would ignore the import ban.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, in an interview with AFP at the UN, said that Poland's decision to ban Ukrainian grain was unjustified.
«This tension is unfortunate,» Ms Colonna told AFP. in an interview on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Referring to the EU study, she said that imports of Ukrainian grain will not disrupt the market and will not harm European farmers.
“There are no market shocks; and perhaps there are domestic political considerations on the part of some of our partners who
The grain issue is particularly sensitive in Poland, where elections will be held next month.
The current right-wing populist Law and Justice Party government has strong support in the rural regions.
“We were the first to do a lot for Ukraine and therefore we expect them to understand our interests,” Mr Morawiecki said on Wednesday stated Polsat News.
“Of course, we respect all their problems, but for us the interests of our farmers are the most important thing.”
Kiev responded to warnings from Poland, Hungary and Slovakia by announcing, that he would file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Mr Morawiecki warned earlier on Wednesday that he would expand the list of prohibited Ukrainian goods. from imports if Kiev escalates the grain dispute.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “pressure on Poland in multilateral forums or sending complaints to international courts are not appropriate methods of resolving differences between our countries.”
Kyiv responded by calling on Poland to “put emotions aside” after it summoned its ambassador and urging Warsaw to take a “constructive” approach to the dispute.
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