The announcement comes amidst a diplomatic dispute between Poland, Hungary and Slovakia on one side and Ukraine on the other side of the grain deal
The Prime Minister of Poland – Mateusz Morawiecki has said that Poland will no longer supply weapons to Ukraine for fighting the invading Russian troops.
Poland has long been one of Ukraine’s staunchest ally since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, alongside multiple former Eastern bloc nations. Poland has already sent Ukraine 320 Soviet-era tanks and 14 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. It was Poland who urged Germany to allow them to send the Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. It has so far welcomed more than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine. Poland has pledged € 4.27 billion (U.S. $ 4.54 billion), which is a combination of military, financial and humanitarian aid.
The announcement comes amidst a diplomatic dispute between Poland, Hungary and Slovakia on one side and Ukraine on the other side. Earlier in May 2023, the restrictions imposed by the European Union (E.U.) allowed Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to ban the domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds while permitting transit of such cargoes for export elsewhere. This was done to protect the interest of domestic farmers.
When the ban ended on September 15, 2023, the E.U. chose not to renew it, but Hungary, Slovakia and Poland have maintained the ban, despite the European Commission, emphasising it was not up to E.U. member states to decide broader trade policy.
Speaking to the media, Morawiecki said, “We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons.”
He said that Poland is helping Ukraine defeat the “Russian barbarian” by maintaining a military hub but would not agree to Poland’s markets being destabilised by grain imports.
He further said, “Our hub in Rzeszow, in agreement with the Americans and Nato, is fulfilling the same role the whole time as it has fulfilled and will fulfil.”
Besides, Poland summoned Ukraine’s Ambassador over comments made by the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Zelenskyy said it was alarming how some of Ukraine’s friends in Europe were playing out solidarity “in a political theatre – making a thriller from grain”. Poland denounced his words as “unjustified concerning Poland, which has supported Ukraine since the first days of the war”.
Poland’s military hardware has been depleted by about a third through transfers to Ukraine and is in the process of replacing it with a modern Western-produced kit. Also, arms exports to Ukraine will not stop completely as Polish manufacturer PGZ is due to send about 60 Krab artillery weapons in the coming months. The Government has clarified that only previously agreed deliveries of ammunition and armaments would be delivered, including those from contracts signed with Ukraine.
Separately, Ukraine has filed lawsuits with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the bans, which it said were a violation of international obligations. There are reports that Ukraine has agreed to withdraw its lawsuit against Slovakia after the two countries said a grain licence system would be set up in the coming months.
Morawiecki also said they would increase the number of banned products from Kyiv if Ukraine escalated the grain dispute.
