Poland said late Wednesday it will no longer arm Ukraine and instead focus on its own defense.
In a mounting row over grain exports from Ukraine, Poland summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to protest remarks at the UN by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Ukrainian leader said some countries were only pretending to support his nation as it wages a counteroffensive to retake land taken by Russia. This prompted Warsaw to summon Kyiv’s ambassador to the foreign ministry.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told Polsat news on Wednesday:
I am warning Ukraine’s authorities. Because if they are to escalate the conflict like that, we will add additional products to the ban on imports into Poland. Ukrainian authorities do not understand the degree to which Poland’s farming industry has been destabilised. We are protecting Polish farmers.
Poland has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters after Russia invaded in February 2022, and is one of Kyiv’s main weapons suppliers. Much of the weaponry that the United States and other countries send to Ukraine passes through Poland, which borders Ukraine to the west. Poland also hosts some one million Ukrainian refugees, who have benefited from various kinds of state aid.
Tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv were sparked by a Polish ban on Ukrainian grain imports, with the goal of protecting its own farmers.
Asked whether his country would continue to back Kyiv, despite this dispute, Morawiecki told Polsat news,
We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons.
We were the first to do a lot for Ukraine and that’s why we expect for them to understand our interests.
Kyiv responded to warnings by Poland, Hungary and Slovakia by announcing that it would lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Morawiecki had warned earlier on Wednesday that he would extend the list of Ukrainian products banned from import if Kyiv were to escalate the grain dispute.
A foreign ministry statement said that
putting pressure on Poland in multilateral forums or sending complaints to international courts are not appropriate methods to resolve differences between our countries.
Kyiv responded by calling on Poland to “leave emotion aside” after it had summoned its ambassador, urging Warsaw to adopt a “constructive” approach in the dispute.
