Space Travel News
WAR REPORT
Polish president says PM was misinterpreted on Ukraine arms
Polish president says PM was misinterpreted on Ukraine arms
by AFP Staff Writers
Warsaw (AFP) Sept 21, 2023

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday claimed that the prime minister's comments on no longer arming Ukraine had been taken the wrong way, amid a mounting row between the two countries.

Poland has been one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters since Russia invaded in February 2022 and is one of Kyiv's main weapons suppliers.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had said on Wednesday: "We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons."

On Thursday, Warsaw promised to fulfil existing arms supply deals with Ukraine.

"Poland will only carry out previously agreed deliveries of ammunition and armaments. Including those resulting from contracts signed with Ukraine," government spokesman Piotr Muller said.

Duda argued that "the prime minister's words were interpreted in the worst way possible".

"In my opinion, the prime minister meant that we won't be transferring to Ukraine the new weaponry that we're currently buying as we modernise the Polish army," Duda told TVN24 television.

Warsaw has signed multiple arms deals, including with the United States and South Korea, from whom it ordered K2 "Black Panther" tanks and K9 howitzers.

"As we receive the new weaponry from the US and South Korea, we will be releasing the weaponry currently used by the Polish army. Perhaps we will transfer it to Ukraine," Duda said.

Apart from sending its own supplies, Poland is also a key transit country for weaponry that the United States and other Western supporters are sending to Ukraine.

Poland also hosts some one million Ukrainian refugees, who have benefitted from various kinds of state aid.

Tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv were sparked by a Polish ban on Ukrainian grain imports, with the goal of protecting its own farmers.

Ukraine on Thursday said the two sides would hold talks on the grain dispute "in the coming days", saying the two countries still had "close" ties.

- Polish elections looming -

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has closed off Black Sea shipping lanes used before the war, resulting in the European Union becoming a major transit route and export destination for Ukrainian grain.

In May, the EU agreed to restrict exports to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, seeking to protect farmers there who blamed the shipments for a slump in prices on local markets.

The measures allowed the products to keep transiting through the five countries but stopped them being sold on the local market.

But the European Commission -- the EU's executive arm -- last week said it was ending the import ban, arguing that "the market distortions in the five member states bordering Ukraine have disappeared".

Poland, Hungary and Slovakia immediately announced they would defy the move.

The grain issue is particularly sensitive in Poland, where a general election takes place next month.

The current populist right-wing government of the Law and Justice party has strong support in farming regions.

"We were the first to do a lot for Ukraine and that's why we expect for them to understand our interests," Morawiecki told Polsat News on Wednesday.

"Of course, we respect all of their problems but for us, the interests of our farmers are the most important thing."

Kyiv said it would lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Morawiecki earlier also warned that he could extend the list of Ukrainian products banned from import if Kyiv were to escalate the grain dispute.

The Polish foreign ministry issued a statement saying: "Putting pressure on Poland in multilateral forums or sending complaints to international courts are not appropriate methods to resolve differences between our countries."

Ukraine responded by summoning the Polish ambassador and calling on Poland to "leave emotion aside" and adopt a "constructive" approach in the dispute.

Related Links
Space War News

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
WAR REPORT
Former UK soldier denies prison break
London (AFP) Sept 21, 2023
An ex-British army soldier on Thursday pleaded not guilty to escaping from a London prison where he was being held on terror charges. Daniel Khalife, 21, is accused of absconding from London's Wandsworth prison on September 6, allegedly by clinging to the bottom of a delivery van. Following a huge manhunt, he was rearrested three days later on a canal towpath in west London after being pulled off a bike by a plain-clothes officer. Khalife appeared at London's Old Bailey court via video-link ... read more

WAR REPORT
WAR REPORT
Dusty Skies in the Cloudy Season: Sols 3950-3952

Sols 3948-3949: A Rocky Road, or Two!

Another Martian Weekend" Sols 3943-3945

Sols 3936-3939: Double the Fun

WAR REPORT
The young age of permanently shadowed areas on the Moon

Electrons from Earth may be forming water on the Moon

NASA contract Firefly to provide radio frequency calibration services from lunar orbit

Maduro says Venezuelan astronauts could go to Moon in Chinese spaceship

WAR REPORT
Possible existence of Earth-like planet predicted in Outskirts of Solar System

SwRI will lead Hubble, Webb observations of Io, Jupiter's volcanic moon

In the service of planetary science, astrophysics and heliophysics

Mysterious Neptune dark spot detected from Earth for the first time

WAR REPORT
On the road to spotting alien life

Alleged bodies of 'non-human beings' shown in Mexican Congress

Webb discovers methane, carbon dioxide in atmosphere of K2-18 b

Scientists detect and validate the longest-period exoplanet found with TESS

WAR REPORT
Mini space thruster that runs on water

Musk biography describes troubled tycoon driven by demons

Marcus Wandt will fly to International Space Station on third Axiom Space mission

SpaceX launches 22 Starlink satellites in 65th mission of 2023

WAR REPORT
Tianzhou 5 spacecraft burns up on Earth reentry

Crew of Shenzhou XV mission honored for six-month space odyssey

China solicits names for manned lunar exploration vehicles

From rice to quantum gas: China's targets pioneering space research

WAR REPORT
OSIRIS-REx adjusts course to target sample capsule's landing zone

Lucy captures its first images of Asteroid Dinkinesh

Here's How Sept. 24 Asteroid Sample Delivery Will Work

Psyche on track for liftoff next month

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.