Poland stops arms delivery to Ukraine as trade dispute escalates
- 23 September, 17:12
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on September 20 that his country would no longer be sending weapons to Ukraine and that they would be instead focusing on rebuilding their own weapon stock.
The announcement comes amid a growing political row over Poland’s national ban on Ukraine grain imports.
“We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland with modern weapons,” Morawiecki said. Ukraine is defending itself against Russia’s brutal attack, and I understand this situation, but we will defend our country,” the prime minister said.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda tried to downplay the statement the following day, saying that Prime Minister Morawiecki’s comments were “misinterpreted in the worst way possible.” In my opinion, the prime minister meant that we won't be transferring to Ukraine the new weaponry that we're currently buying as we modernise the Polish army," he said.
The relations between the two allies escalated in the pat two weeks after Poland imposed a ban on Ukrainian grain imports in an attempt to prevent the influx of cheap grain and food imports into the country. Neighbouring Slovakia and Hungary joined in Poland to extend bans on Ukrainian grain imports in an attempt to protect local farmers. Ukraine has been searching for alternative roads to transport its grain to European markets after Russia withdrew from the UN-backed deal that allowed for the export of Ukrainian foodstuffs.
Warsaw has been Kyiv’s most loyal supporter since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of the country last year, delivering military aid worth more than 4.27 billion euros. Poland has also played a central role in lobbying other NATO and EU member countries to deliver more weapons to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian attacks.
