Poland declares to stop arming Ukraine as grain dispute escalates

Kyiv/Warsaw – Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced to stop the supply of arms to Ukraine, clearly saying, ‘We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons. We were the first to do a lot for Ukraine, and that’s why we expect them to understand our interests. Of course, we respect all of their problems, but for us, the interests of our farmers are the most important thing.’

Moreover, there has been a major dispute between Ukraine and Eastern European countries on the issue of grain import and transportation for the last six months. In April, farmers from Poland, Bulgaria and Romania had begun to protest against the import of Ukrainian grain. Despite grain reserves in European countries, the farmers of these countries alleged that European leaders were causing harm to local farmers by bringing grain from Ukraine to the market.

After the farmers’ demonstrations intensified, these countries had written a letter to the European Union (EU) requesting they stop importing Ukrainian grains. The European countries had become aggressive with the EU ignoring it. Hence, the EU had approved a temporary ban on the import of Ukrainian grain to these countries. The ban ended last week, and the EU has refused to extend its period.

Accordingly, Poland and Hungary had decided to impose a unilateral ban while maintaining their aggressive role. Ukraine and the EU had registered a sharp response to this. However, despite this, Poland and Hungary have explicitly refused to back down from their decision. Besides, elections are being held in Poland next month, and against this backdrop, it would not be in the ruling party’s interest to disappoint Polish voters. Thus, Poland has decided to stop direct arms aid while maintaining its role in the Ukraine issue.

Furthermore, the repercussions of the decision in Poland have begun to emerge in Ukraine and the Western world. Criticising that the decision would benefit Russia, the Polish government is being targeted. Poland, until now, has provided arms worth more than three billion dollars to Ukraine, which include armoured vehicles, cannons, tanks, fighter planes and helicopters.

Moreover, European countries quickly supported Ukraine after the Russian attack. Also, European countries had taken the initiative to provide economic and arms assistance to Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Russia and accepting Ukrainian refugees. Some European leaders had claimed that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine was Europe’s battle. However, it emerges that the support Ukraine received from Europe is slowly turning into opposition and resentment.