MOSCOW, September 22, Mikhail Katkov. Disputes about grain led to the fact that Kiev threatened Warsaw with economic sanctions, and the Poles in response refused to supply weapons. And they warned the Ukrainians: if they continue to persist, they will be deprived of a European perspective. How far a showdown can go is in the material .
In three letters, President Andrzej Duda, speaking at the UN General Assembly, compared Ukraine to a drowning man who drags his saviors to the bottom. “Is it possible to be offended? Of course. You can even be indignant,” Duda emphasized. And he added: Poland intends to defend itself from the “drowned man.”
President of Poland Andrzej Duda during a speech at the UN General Assembly
Zelensky, from the same podium, said that he was alarmed to see how some in Europe “play solidarity in the political theater, turning grain supplies into a thriller.” In his opinion, such performers unwittingly help Russia. Although it was completely clear who he meant, the representative of Warsaw, Peter Müller, hastened to clarify: “I hope this is not about us.”
On the sidelines of the General Assembly, Zelensky and Duda never crossed paths. According to the President of Poland — “due to organizational discrepancies.”
Meanwhile, while they were making speeches in New York, in Kyiv, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Taras Kachka announced an embargo on Polish onions, tomatoes, cabbage and apples. This is a response to the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain, flour and grain meal.
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky during a speech at the UN General Assembly
< br>
“Ukraine’s actions do not impress us,” responded Polish Minister for EU Affairs Szymon Szynkowski vel Senk. Warsaw experts immediately discovered salmonella, pesticides and myotoxins in Ukrainian grain. According to the chief veterinarian, from January to May, harmful substances were detected in 35 percent of supplies from Ukraine.
Bearing game Shinkovsky vel Senk warned: Poland is ready to weaken its support for Kyiv. Society demands this, as surveys show. The University of Warsaw recently published the results of a study “Social perception of refugees from Ukraine, migrants and the actions of the Polish state.” It turned out that in May 13 percent fewer respondents treated Ukrainians well than in January. Many believe that displaced people are taking away their jobs.
Procession dedicated to the 79th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising in Poland
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has already announced a cessation of arms supplies. They say that you need to think first of all about your own security: modernize the army to make it one of the strongest in Europe.
In turn, Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said: Warsaw will not agree to European integration of Kyiv until they agree to the grain embargo. This is an acceptable concession for the sake of joining the EU, he believes.
Müller added that in the economy everyone is on his own.
Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki
What countries want Ukrainian and Polish media are not lagging behind politicians. The Do Rzeczy publication described how Kyiv should behave to keep Warsaw happy. Firstly, in the European Union, Ukraine should rely on Poland, and not France and Germany. Secondly, we need to abandon the lawsuit in the WTO court over grain. In addition, it is necessary to reconsider the attitude towards Stepan Bandera.
In general, Do Rzeczy believes that the Poles have already helped enough and have the right to demand concessions. Otherwise, the publication warns, the Kyiv authorities may get the impression that they will always be supported without any conditions.
Ukrainian parents send their children to nationalist torchlight marches. This is one of them, held in Kiev in 2021, dedicated to the birthday of Stepan Bandera
Lukasz Adamski, deputy head of the Juliusz Mieroszewski Center for Dialogue, in an article for Ukrayinska Pravda (UP), pointed out that Kiev does not realize the scale of assistance provided by the Polish government, while incurring internal political losses. He also recalled the reluctance of the Ukrainian authorities to admit the responsibility of the UPA* for the Volyn massacre.
Adamsky noted that Polish society had already recovered from the initial shock caused by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Accordingly, the readiness for selfless support has weakened. The argument “you help us so that we can protect you” no longer works.
In response, the UP published an article saying that there was no question of condemning the UPA*, and the Poles should honor the memory of the Ukrainian “patriots” who died in battles with the Soviet NKVD. In addition, if Warsaw strives for more pragmatic relations, then no one is against it, but then one should not be surprised that Kiev protects its farmers.
Veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) on the day of the Heroes' Day in Lviv.
Nothing lasts foreverDeputy head of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Zharikhin believes that the conflict could go quite far, but this is mainly due to the parliamentary elections in Poland. “Ukrainian grain, which poured into the Polish market, worsened the economic situation of voters of the ruling Law and Justice party, a significant part of whom live in rural areas. In addition, the situation on the labor market has become tense due to the influx of refugees. First of all, this is a problem of cities. Accordingly , the authorities, criticizing Kiev, are gaining popularity,” the expert argues.
Annalyst at the Financial University under the Russian government, Denis Denisov, adds: “In Warsaw, many politicians consider some regions of Ukraine to be illegally seized from Polish territories. In addition, the entire history of bilateral relations is studded with painful dots. The Ukrainians were constantly at war with the Poles.»
Most likely, as the experts interviewed say, after the elections the parties will pretend that nothing like this ever happened. Their showdown is one thing, the confrontation between the West and Russia, in which Ukraine plays a key role, is quite another.
* Terrorist organization banned in Russia.