Zakharova: Poland is in dialogue with Ukraine, as it is a tool against Russia
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on Poland’s decision to ban grain imports from Ukraine. In her opinion, Warsaw is talking with Kiev as long as it remains a tool against Russia.
The diplomat quoted the Polish Minister of Development and Technology, Waldemar Budu, who noted that the ban applies to both the import of Ukrainian grain and its transit to third countries. “Imagine, this is how Poland talks to Ukraine, while it still needs it, as a subject, as an anti-Russian toolkit,” she said.
And when the border is erased, and the remnants of Ukraine are absorbed by Warsaw, then no one will talk to the local population at all
Zakharova called this decision of the Polish side indicative “from the point of view of exposing the imaginary concern of Westerners for the hungry and those in need of food.”
EU countries began to stop grain imports from Ukraine
On April 15, the country’s former prime minister and head of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Yaroslav Kaczynski, said that the Polish government had temporarily suspended imports of Ukrainian grain, as well as dozens of other types of food products. According to him, this is done as part of the protection of national farming. At the same time, he called Warsaw “unchanging friends and allies” of Kyiv.
Later, the suspension of grain imports from Ukraine until June 30 was announced by the Minister of Agriculture of Hungary, Istvan Nagy. Until that moment, the country will expect the introduction of measures by the European Union to support European farmers and the revision of the rules for duty-free import of agricultural products from Ukraine. The Minister explained that Hungary seeks to defend the interests of the country’s farmers.
Prior to this, the prime ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia called on the European Commission to buy their accumulated grain from Ukraine. The authorities of the countries explained that due to the flow of Ukrainian food, the cost of their own products has decreased, while the prices of energy and fertilizers are rising.
In turn, the European Commission said that unilateral bans on the supply of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine, introduced by Poland and Hungary, are unacceptable. “In this context, we consider it important to recall that EU trade policy is the exclusive competence of the entire community,” they stressed.
Ukraine announced negotiations with EU countries on grain exports
On April 16, Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine Mykola Solsky said that Kyiv would hold negotiations on the export of agricultural products with Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Negotiations will be held in Warsaw on April 17, negotiations with Romania are scheduled for April 19, and with Slovakia on April 20. The Ukrainian side believes that the first step should be the opening of transit, the minister added.
Prior to this, the Ukrainian Ministry of Agrarian Policy expressed regret over the decision of Poland, believing that “unilateral cardinal actions will not accelerate a positive solution to the situation.” “We understand that Polish farmers are in a difficult situation, but we emphasize that Ukrainian farmers are in the most difficult situation now,” they said.
The former adviser to the former President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, Oleg Soskin, commenting on the situation, even stated that Warsaw had stabbed Kyiv in the back. According to him, at present, the agricultural sector is the only direction “that is more or less functioning” in the country.
And here you are, please, stabbed in the back by Poland
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