Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday proposed a meeting with the Polish government to solve the border blockade, which he said only benefitted Moscow.
The blockade that could impede weapons deliveries has reignited tensions between the neighbors, and a Polish protestor's banner calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to come get Ukraine “in order” triggered outrage.
“I have instructed my government to be on the border between our countries as soon as possible, by Feb. 24,” Zelensky said, inviting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to join.
“This is national security... I am ready to be at the border,” Zelensky added.
Polish farmers have been blocking Ukrainian trucks from entering their country to protest what they say is unfair competition from cheaper imports from Ukraine.
The farmers launched a new wave of protests on Tuesday, staging a blockade of around 100 roads to the border as well as forcing open two Ukrainian railcars at the Medyka border crossing.
Roads into Poland, an EU member, have been an export lifeline for Ukraine, which is also relying on imported Western military aid to keep fending off Russia's offensive.
“This blockade on the border, unfortunately, increases the threat to the supply of weapons to our guys at the front,” Zelensky said.
“Only Moscow is rejoicing now,” he added.
Poland meanwhile warned of potential Russian attempts to influence the protests, after some demonstrators unfurled a banner saying “Putin, get Ukraine, Brussels and our government in order” alongside a Soviet flag attached to a tractor.
Poland Ready to Host Nuclear Weapons, Says President Duda
The picture of the banner was widely circulated on social media, prompting angry reactions and an investigation from the Polish police.
You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter
Comments (6)
@ Joseph Swanson
So when you complain about Polish protectionism in every your comment here - everything is ok. But when same thing is being said/confirmed by President of France suddenly this is irrelevant - right ?
Let us know when your opinion become universal and not just pointed at country you just don't like.
Frankly this all smacks of the types of hybrid war putin's regime specializes in fomenting. With only 5% of Ukrainian crops crossing the border and almost all of that that now prevented from being sold in Poland as per EU requirements there is no logical reason for these political rioters to behave this way.
The vast majority of the Polish people already know what could befall them if Ukraine loses. They know the timing of these political acts are absolutely aligned to support putin's agenda of weakening allied resolve. They know that putin infiltrators have been an issue in their country given his stated goals to reclaim Poland. Also note how the exact same groups are holding similarly disruptive protests across other Ukraine supporting nations.......even in Canada with Poilievre's and the USA with putinrump's blessing. Allan about the same time. It’s a common tool in the russian hybrid war playbook. The honest farmers & truckers in these protests are being played for fools by putin's infiltrators. What they demand will not fix the issues all nations now face (inflationary pressures). None of these duped protested would like at all Putin rule, but that is what they risk.
Poland needs Ukraine to win this war. Their current leadership was elected with this goal in mind after the former PiS party started to fail in its' Ukraine support.
@ Jote the troll...I try to reply to you but for some reason I cannot. So here is your answer.
@Jote, This article is about Poland and Polish farmers complaint NOT about France therefore for the sake of staying on topic I will NOT comment about France.
As for 2017, there is no need for me to go into "detail" since you obviously have a computer and therefore capable of doing your own research.
@Joseph Swanson, Hi Joseph. You are correct that comment "Jote" is a russian troll. There is a little technical trick that I have discovered in their Kyvpost comments which reveals this. It's actually something the the better orchestrated trolls have been doing lately with their text encoding to stop some regular Ukraine supporters like ourselves from posting directly underneath their generally inflammatory and always misleading posts. We can still post at the root level though (as you have discovered).
What I do is save the message I type after their comment. When I submit it and it disappears I then go the root level and repaste it. Takes me a few extra seconds. No big deal. I already have ~ 200 page document of my past now hyperlinked Kyipost comments which makes its very easy to debunk their often repeated false statements or attempts to sow dissent.
In 2017, when it was Poland, they did not want to follow EU laws either and the Western members of the EU's complaint of unfair competition was the same as Poland's today, ironically enough. Competition is competition...no such thing as "unfair or fair" competition because if there were, it would not be competition. What these Polish farmers are advocating is protectionism.
I suspect the Polish truckers were put up to this by some belarusian and russian trucking companies that moved to Poland and masquerading as "Polish owned trucking companies" opposed to truckers outside of the EU, in turn, further hurting Ukraine's economy by denial of trade by sea...air...now by road...now by rail as predicted just a few weeks ago making the choke hold complete.
The Polish government is 100% in the wrong on this and are being deliberately indifferent and should really know better considering their experiences with communist russia...but no...a bigger paycheck for the Polish truck driver is more important than Ukraine and it's people's right to exist...that's Poland today...sickening sorry excuses for Slavs and human beings.
I see janusz korwin mikke is stirring things up...again on behalf of communist russia.
The Polish government MUST give reparations to the families of the Ukrainian citizens that were killed by their citizens.
@Joseph Swanson,
Could you also write your opinion about President Macrone who just said about unfair Ukrainian agriculture competision in France and could you elaborate in details year 2017 you are refering to.
@Jote, test post
When protests start breaking the law it is time to shut down and let everyone calm down.
Britain should ban Polish migrant workers in response. They send most of their wages back to Poland and contribute little to Britain's economy.
Ukraine is a British ally and our government must send a clear message to Poland about it's shameful actions at the border.
@David Steel,
As I see your comments in every article about Poland so you must be expert about Polish-Ukrainian relation. Surely it must be true since you claim to be English and noone knows better about Eastern Europe situation than British person who is Brexit supporter.
When it comes to clear message, here is a number of Ukrainian refugees in Poland right now: 980000 + 1.9 milion who arrived after ruzzia atack Crimea in 2014. Total approx. 2.8 milion.
The highest number was: 5milion refugees + 1.9 milion = 7 milion.
Population of Poland: 38 milion.
To have our conversation on nice and proper level could you please write similar data about UK.
Population: 67 milion.
...
Thanks in advance.