Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has told Volodymyr Zelensky never to “insult Poles again” after the Ukrainian president suggested his neighbor was putting on a show over their disputes on grain exports.
The comments by Morawiecki risk deepening the divisions between two countries that have previously been close allies united against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The EU announced plans to suspend the ban last week but Poland – alongside Hungary and Slovakia – said it would stick with it, sparking protests from Ukraine, which filed lawsuits against the three countries, and, subsequently, Zelensky’s comments at the UN.
But Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday moved to walk back his prime minister’s comments, saying they were “interpreted in the worst possible way.”
Poland has long been one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies, alongside multiple former Eastern bloc nations which fear they could be next if Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expansionist war is successful.
Most Western military equipment and other supplies get to Ukraine through Poland and the country is hosting 1.6 million Ukrainian refugees, according to the United Nations.
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