Grain spat drags Ukraine's ties with ally Poland to lowest point since start of Russian invasion
A dispute about whether Ukrainian grain should be allowed to enter the domestic markets of Poland and other European Union countries has pushed the tight relationship between Kyiv and Warsaw to its lowest point since Russia invaded Ukraine last year
WARSAW, Poland — A dispute about whether Ukrainian grain should be allowed to enter the domestic markets of Poland and other European Union countries has pushed the tight relationship between Kyiv and Warsaw to its lowest point since Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
Polish leaders have compared Ukraine to a drowning person hurting his helper and threatened to expand a ban on food products from the war-torn country. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that EU allies that are prohibiting imports of his nation’s grain are helping Russia.
Poland, on NATO’s eastern flank, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine, sending weapons and humanitarian aid and opening its borders to refugees.
Now, Polish officials, who are trying to win parliamentary elections next month with help from farmers' votes, are expressing dismay over some of Ukraine's latest moves, including a World Trade Organization complaint over bans on Ukrainian grain from Poland and two other EU countries.
“Alarmingly, some in Europe play out solidarity in a political theater — turning grain into a thriller. They may seem to play their own roles. In fact, they’re helping set the stage for a Moscow actor,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday during the U.N. General Assembly.
Poland’s deputy foreign minister, Pawel Jablonski, on Wednesday voiced “strong protest” of Zelenskyy's comments to Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Zvarych.
Jablonski “indicated that it is untrue, as far as Poland is concerned, and that the
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