A row over grain exports has triggered a significant rift between Ukraine and Poland, one of its staunchest supporters in Kyiv’s war with Russia. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Warsaw will no longer transfer weapons to Ukraine and will instead focus on ensuring its own defense with the arsenal of modern arms it recently purchased.
The trade dispute comes after the European Union last week decided against renewing a ban on Ukrainian grain heading to nearby countries, including Poland, which have claimed their farms will be hurt by an influx of agricultural products from the war-torn country.
During his address Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy assailed countries like Poland that have continued their bans on Ukrainian agricultural exports. He accused them of proclaiming their solidarity in public but “making a thriller from the grain.” However, it appears some lower-level government officials in Kyiv and Warsaw may be trying to find a way around the impasse. Ukraine’s agriculture minister, Mykola Solskyi, recently spoke with Robert Telus, his Polish counterpart.