Warsaw expects the Ukrainian side to understand the Polish attitude in the grain issue

(Photo: Pixabay)

At his press conference, Jablonski called several recent statements by Kiev officials “inappropriate and unnecessary,” which he said harm good bilateral relations. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs also referred to the Ukrainian statements that were related to the previous day’s request by the Polish Ambassador to Kyiv, Bartosz Cichocki. The background to Cichocki’s request is that on Monday Marcin Przydacz, the head of the foreign affairs office of the Polish president, spoke about the possibility that Warsaw could extend the Polish import ban on Ukrainian agricultural products and called on Kyiv to show its gratitude to Poland for the support that Poland has provided to Ukraine in recent months and years. . Jablonski underlined: Poland wants to maintain good relations with Ukraine, but in this field the principle of reciprocity is applicable, “respect for each other and understanding of national interests” is necessary. Poland wants to continue to support Ukraine, Warsaw perceives Russian aggression in Ukraine as a threat to Polish interests as well – emphasized the deputy minister. “At the same time, we expect the Ukrainian side to understand our needs and our attitude,” he added. He explained: he is primarily thinking about the grain issue and the settlement of the Volhynia massacre committed by the former Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) in 1943.

Jablonski offered the prospect of continuing the bilateral dialogue

The Polish press quotes Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s Twitter post on Tuesday evening, in which the Ukrainian president underlined: Kiev “extraordinarily appreciates Poland’s historic support” during the war in Ukraine. “We will not allow any political moment to spoil the relations between the Ukrainian and the Polish people,” Zelenskiy referred to the diplomatic truce. Five Central European countries, including Poland, want to see the European Union (EU) import ban on grain from Ukraine extended at least until the end of the year. The current EU import ban is scheduled to expire on September 15. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated at the end of July: Warsaw will not lift the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain on September 15, even if the EU cannot agree on an extension by then.

MTI