Aiming for de-escalation, Zelenskyy and Duda say they want to tackle grain dispute
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda have both spoken about the dispute over Ukrainian grain imports into Poland, and both seem to want to take the heat out of the row.
Zelenskyy, during a press briefing in Washington, DC on Sept. 21, pointed to the EU’s order to lift import restrictions after Sept. 15, Ukrainian national broadcaster Freedom reported.
Read also: Poland’s Duda willing to meet with Zelenskyy ‘as soon as possible’
“It’s clear to everyone that if there is a blockade after this date, Ukraine will opt for a legal process. This isn’t breaking news. There’s no need to turn it into a political spectacle,” Zelenskyy said.
“It’s a civilized decision to ensure that Ukrainians, farmers, and the budget receive purely economic compensation,” he said.
Read also: Zelenskyy & Duda seeking to meet but Poland won’t budge on Ukrainian grain, says pres. adviser
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was the only one to suffer from the blockade. He said he was committed to being honest and protecting Ukraine’s interests, while at the same time maintaining warm relations with Poland — one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters in its fight against Russian aggression.
“We’ve calculated several months of economic losses — it amounts to hundreds of millions. But the relations between our countries are worth more than those months we’ve lost,” Zelenskyy added.
Meanwhile, Duda, speaking at the Congress of Ukraine’s Renewal in Poznan, emphasized that cooperation with Ukraine and its support hold “historical significance” for him, Polish news agency PAP reported.
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The Polish leader stated that the assistance provided by Poles and Polish entrepreneurs to Ukraine and its citizens represents a “vast capital of human connections between our countries and peoples,” one that should not be disrupted by legal or political disputes.
Duda also said he didn’t believe that the grain dispute could significantly affect relations between Ukraine and Poland.
While Zelenskyy and Duda did not engage in negotiations on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Polish president expressed his readiness to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart as soon as the opportunity arises.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
