Amid a growing dispute over a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports, Poland said on Wednesday it would stop supplying arms to Kyiv, which is an ally of Warsaw, CNN reported.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on social media:
“We no longer transfer weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland.”
It is noteworthy that Poland has long been one of Ukraine’s most loyal allies since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war. However, the ongoing dispute over Poland’s temporary ban on imports of Ukrainian grain has led the two allies to quarrel.
Earlier, a number of EU countries imposed a ban on grain imports from Ukraine to protect the domestic agricultural market from the influx of cheap Ukrainian grain.
Last week, the EU decided to suspend the ban. However, three countries – Poland, Hungary and Slovakia – said they intend to keep the restrictions in place.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also spoke out against the ban on Wednesday when addressing the UN General Assembly. He said:
“It is alarming to see how some in Europe, some of our friends in Europe, play out solidarity in a political theater – making a thriller from the grain.”
He added that the nations involved “may seem to play their own role but in fact they are helping set the stage to a Moscow actor.”
Zelensky’s cheeky comments drew immediate condemnation from Poland, with the Foreign Ministry summoning Ukraine’s ambassador to Warsaw to express its “strong protest”. Morawiecki said, according to PAP:
“Of course we will maintain the transit of Ukrainian goods. Poland does not bear any costs due to that. On the contrary, it could be said that we earn from it.”
Morawiecki criticised Ukrainian oligarchs for “pushing their grain into the Polish market” without caring for local farmers, and said Poland would now focus on supplying “the most modern weapons” for its own needs, PAP reported. Morawiecki added:
“If you want to defend yourself you have to have something to defend with.”
