“Every country has its own interests. We, Polish authorities, have a duty to guard Polish interests first and foremost, and this is what we have been doing from the very beginning. The assistance we have been sending to Ukraine, especially military assistance. was motivated by a calculation for our security”, said Polish President Andrzej Duda.
President Duda criticised the current approach of the government in Kyiv to the issue of importing Ukrainian grain to the markets of European countries after the United Nations Security Council meeting. ‘I observe with sadness the lack of understanding from the Ukrainian government on the grain issue’, said Duda.
The Polish leader stressed that ‘it is in our interest that the Polish farmer be safe and be able to carry out his tasks in peace’. At the same time, he pointed out that Poland is self-sufficient in food, and a situation in which millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain are flooding our market is an unacceptable from our point of view.
However, the President stressed that the transit of Ukrainian grain through Poland is continued all the time. ‘This grain is shipped to the world. We just do not want it to flood our market’, he added.
A few hours earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski, speaking in a general debate at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, said his country was working hard “to preserve land routes for grain exports”.
“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. They may seem to play their own role but in fact they are helping set the stage to a Moscow actor”, added Zelenski.
Responding to the speech, the head of the Polish government Mateusz Morawiecki said that the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski were very inappropriate.
‘If there is further escalation on the Ukrainian side, we will apply the next steps of the embargo on our side accordingly’, Prime Minister Morawiecki announced.
Adrian Andrzejewski