Poland will no longer send weapons to Ukraine, says PM, as grain dispute escalates

Poland will no longer send arms to Ukraine in order to focus on its own defence, the Polish prime minister has said, a few hours after Warsaw summoned Kyiv’s ambassador amid a row over grain exports.

“We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons,” Mateusz Morawiecki said, in response to a question about whether Warsaw would continue to support Kyiv despite the grain exports disagreement.

Poland has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters after Russia invaded in February 2022 and is one of Kyiv’s main weapons suppliers. It also hosts a million Ukrainian refugees, who have been supplied with various forms of state aid.

Tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv were sparked by Poland’s ban on Ukrainian grain imports to protect the interests of its farmers, and have intensified in recent days.

In his speech to the UN general assembly this week, Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused some in Europe of in effect helping Russia via their stance on grain exports. “It is alarming to see how some in Europe play out solidarity in a political theatre – making a thriller from the grain. They may seem to play their own role but in fact they are helping set the stage to a Moscow actor,” he said.

Morawiecki later told Polsat News television: “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.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has closed off Black Sea shipping lanes used before the war, resulting in the EU becoming a major transit route and export destination for Ukrainian grain.

In May, the EU agreed to restrict imports to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, seeking to protect farmers there who blamed the imports for a slump in prices on local markets.

The measures allowed the products to keep transiting through the five countries, but stopped them being sold on the local market.

But on Friday, the European Commission said it was ending the import ban, arguing that “the market distortions in the five member states bordering Ukraine have disappeared”.

Poland, Hungary and Slovakia immediately announced they would defy the move.

The issue is particularly sensitive in Poland, where elections take place next month. The existing populist right-wing government of the Law and Justice party has strong support in farming regions.

“We were the first to do a lot for Ukraine and that’s why we expect for them to understand our interests,” Morawiecki told Polsat News on Wednesday. “Of course we respect all of their problems, but for us, the interests of our farmers are the most important thing.”

Kyiv responded to warnings by Poland, Hungary and Slovakia by announcing that it would lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Poland’s foreign ministry, responded, saying in a statement that “putting pressure on Poland in multilateral forums or sending complaints to international courts are not appropriate methods to resolve differences between our countries”.

After Poland summoned Ukraine’s ambassador, Kyiv urged Warsaw to “leave emotion aside” and adopt a “constructive” approach in the dispute.

With Agence France-Presse