Poland’s prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki has escalated his rhetoric with the Ukrainian president over the two countries’ ongoing spat over grain exports, telling Volodymyr Zelensky never to “insult Poles again” after the latter suggested his neighbour was postering over the dispute.
The Polish leader hit out at Zelensky after the Ukrainian leader made snide remarks at Poland at the United Nations’ general assembly this week, saying the dispute was “political theater” and that “some of our friends in Europe” have “made a thriller from the grain”.
On Friday, at a rally in Swidnik, Poland, Morawiecki took the bait. “I want to tell President Zelensky never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the UN,” he said.
“The Polish people will never allow this to happen, and defending the good name of Poland is not only my duty and honour, but also the most important task of the Polish government,” the Polish prime minister added.
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The 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, 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.
