According to The Telegraph, Polish Prime Minister Matesuz Morawiecki has announced that Poland will not supply any more weapons to Ukraine. Instead, they want to equip Poland better. Poland’s President Andrzej Duda compared Kiev to a drowning man desperately trying to hold on to whatever he can. This, as The Telegraph reports, would indicate an understanding that Ukraine is unlikely to win the current war and that Europe is no longer in a position to provide support.
In this context, the “Financial Times” states that Poland has stood firmly at its neighbor’s side since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine, supplying it with weapons and supply lines and also taking in over a million refugees. Warsaw’s warnings before the invasion, that the Kremlin could use energy supplies as a weapon and that talks with Putin were illusory, have been confirmed. Despite concerns about rule of law violations in Poland, this has increased the country’s reputation in Europe.
Sudden hostility took Poland by surprise
Despite this moral authority, Poland’s current hostile stance in the grain export dispute with Kiev is surprising, according to the Financial Times. However, this could be influenced by the intense election campaign in Poland, with the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party preparing for elections on October 15th.
Poland has no more material
Many commentators place Poland’s decision in the context of an ongoing dispute over the sale of cheap Ukrainian grain within the EU. But another aspect that The Telegraph highlights is that Poland apparently no longer has enough material for the deliveries. Poland was, after the US and Britain, a major military supporter of Ukraine.
Nevertheless, Poland can continue to supply valuable old ammunition that is proving useful in the current war-like situation, according to The Telegraph. While relations between Warsaw and Kiev may be improving, supply restrictions remained. As the war continues, skepticism is growing in European capitals and people are wondering: what further consequences will occur?
