Out of anger at Zelenskyj?: Poland will no longer supply weapons to Ukraine

Out of anger at Zelensky?
Poland will no longer supply weapons to Ukraine

September 21, 2023, 1:30 am

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Conflict between Poland and Ukraine over grain supply is escalating. After Zelenskyj’s sharp comments before the UN General Assembly, Poland was the first to invite the ambassador. In the evening, Prime Minister Morawiecki announced the cessation of all arms supplies to Kiev.

According to its own statements, Poland is no longer supplying arms to Ukraine, but is instead focusing on arming its own country. “We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are equipping ourselves with more modern weapons,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told Polsat News in the evening. The Polish army should soon become one of the strongest ground forces in Europe, he added.

Since the start of the war, Warsaw has been one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters and arms suppliers. But recently there was a dispute between the two countries over grain supply. Morawiecki did not say whether the decision was related to the controversy. The statement came hours after Warsaw summoned Ukraine’s envoy to the conflict to protest statements made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations.

In the past few days, the dispute has escalated. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has blocked the classic export route for Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea. The EU imposed trade restrictions on land transport against Ukraine to protect local farmers.

“Please Leave Emotions”

On Friday, the EU Commission announced the end of the controversial trade restrictions. However, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia announced that they would not comply immediately. Poland threatened to impose import restrictions on other goods. Zelenskyj said at the UN on Tuesday that some countries are only showing solidarity and implicitly supporting Russia.

Kiev commented on the Ukrainian ambassador’s summons saying that “Polish friends” should “put their emotions aside”. The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the Ukrainian side offered Poland a constructive way to resolve the grain dispute.

In Poland, with elections due next month, the issue is particularly important. Farmers are an important constituency for the right-wing nationalist PiS government. “The Ukrainian authorities do not understand the extent of the destabilization of the Polish agricultural industry,” Morawiecki said of the dispute on Wednesday. “We are protecting Polish farmers.” “The Ukrainian authorities do not understand the extent of the destabilization of the Polish agricultural industry,” Morawiecki said of the dispute on Wednesday. “We are protecting Polish farmers.”