Warsaw demands that Ukraine voluntarily suspend the transit of grain through Polish territory, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland Michal Kolodziejczak told reporters.
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“I approach the negotiations very seriously, we have a lot of arguments that say that transit – what we are talking about – should be voluntarily suspended by the Ukrainian side for at least two months so that Polish farmers can sell their grain reserves, so that we can take care of Polish farmers,” Kolodziejczak said.
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“And I will carefully monitor the observance of this interest, whether someone likes it or not. There are no arguments that will make me stop striving for this,” he added.
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At the same time, the deputy minister admitted that negotiations with the Ukrainian side are not “particularly pleasant.”
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“These are not easy negotiations. I will not deceive anyone here and say that this is something very pleasant,” the deputy minister said.
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Polish-Ukrainian relations have become significantly more complicated due to the embargo on Ukrainian grain. On September 15, 2023, the European Commission decided not to extend restrictions on the import of four types of Ukrainian agricultural products into several EU border countries, but obliged Kyiv to introduce export control measures. After this, the authorities of Slovakia, Hungary and Poland announced that they were extending the ban unilaterally. In this regard, Ukraine filed a complaint with the WTO. In response, three EU countries announced that they would boycott meetings of the coordination platform on Ukrainian grain.
