Poland stops sending weapons to Ukraine amid grain war, says Warsaw – Politico

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Wednesday that Warsaw has stopped supplying weapons to Kiev and is instead focusing on arming itself, amid a dispute over agricultural exports to Ukraine.

“We no longer transfer weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons,” Morawiecki said in a speech. appearance On Polish TV channel Polsat according to European Pravda. “If you do not want to be on the defensive, you must have something to defend yourself with,” he added, stressing that this step would not jeopardize Ukraine’s security.

Morawiecki’s brief comments came as tensions between Kiev and the European Union rose over the past week, after the European Commission moved to allow Ukrainian grain sales across the bloc, ending restrictions on grain imports that five eastern EU countries originally sought to protect their farmers from competition.

Poland, Hungary and Slovakia responded to the Commission’s move by imposing a unilateral ban on Ukrainian grain imports, in clear violation of EU internal market rules. Kiev responded by filing lawsuits against the three countries in the World Trade Organization.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday took a thinly veiled swipe at those enforcing the grain embargo, telling the UN General Assembly: “It is disturbing to see how some in Europe, some of our friends in Europe, embody solidarity in political theater — making for a ‘thriller’ Of grains. They may appear to be playing their own role but in reality they are helping to pave the way for the Moscow representative.”

While Zelensky did not specifically name Poland, Warsaw summoned Kiev’s ambassador to the Foreign Ministry in response.

Morawiecki also issued a “warning” to the “Ukrainian authorities” earlier Polsat says“If they want to escalate the conflict like this, we will add additional products to the ban on imports to Poland. The Ukrainian authorities do not understand how destabilizing Poland’s agricultural industry is.”

Poland is in the midst of a high-stakes campaign ahead of elections next month, with the right-wing Law and Justice government vying for re-election. While Warsaw initially threw its weight behind the campaign to help Kiev fend off a Russian invasion attempt, that full support waned as the consequences of supporting Ukraine for its farmers became clearer.