Polish PM tells Ukraine’s Zelenskyy ‘never to insult Poles again’

Poland’s prime minister told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday not to “insult” Poles, maintaining harsh rhetoric toward Kyiv after the Polish president had sought to defuse a simmering row over grain imports.

Poland decided last week to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, shaking Kyiv’s relationship with a neighbor that has been seen as one of its staunchest allies since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.

Zelenskyy angered his neighbors when he told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Kyiv was working to preserve land routes for grain exports, but that the “political theater” around grain imports was only helping Moscow.

“I… want to tell President Zelenskyy never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the U.,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was quoted as saying by state-run news agency PAP.

Earlier on Friday, President Andrzej Duda had said the dispute between Poland and Ukraine over grain imports would not significantly affect good bilateral relations, in an apparent move to ease tensions.

“I have no doubt that the dispute over the supply of grain from Ukraine to the Polish market is an absolute fragment of the entire Polish-Ukrainian relations,” President Andrzej Duda told a business conference.

“I don’t believe that it can have a significant impact on them, so we need to solve this matter between us.”

Backing Ukraine

Meanwhile, in an article for Politico, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said Poland wanted to see “a strong Ukrainian state emerge from this war with a vibrant economy” and that Warsaw “will continue to back Ukraine’s efforts to join NATO and the EU.”

“There’s absolutely no contradiction here,” Rau wrote.

“Supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and protecting our citizens and safeguarding them against unfair economic competition – both serve Poland’s interest simultaneously.”

Slovakia, Poland and Hungary imposed national restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports after the European Union executive decided not to extend its ban on imports into those countries and fellow EU members Bulgaria and Romania.

The countries have argued that cheap Ukrainian agricultural goods – meant mainly to transit further west and to ports – get sold locally, harming their own farmers.

The EU, which imposed its ban in May, let it expire on Friday after Ukraine vowed to tighten controls.