Zelenskyy calls for calm heads as Poland attacks Ukraine in act of gratitude – POLITICO

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy intervened to call for restraint late Tuesday to end a diplomatic escalation with Ukrainian ally Poland.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kiev had summoned Warsaw’s envoy after a senior Polish official suggested Ukraine should be more grateful for the support it has received from Poland since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in past

“We greatly appreciate the historical support of Poland, which together with us has become a real shield of Europe from sea to sea. And there cannot be a single crack in this shield,” Zelenskyy said.

“We will not allow any political moment to damage the relations between the Ukrainian and Polish peoples, and emotions should definitely cool down,” added the president.

Poland has been one of Kiev’s most vocal supporters since Moscow’s aggression escalated in 2022. But in recent months, its relations with Kiev have been damaged by Warsaw’s decision to extend the ban in some Ukrainian agricultural exports, which the Polish government considers a threat to the interests of domestic farmers.

Initially focused on cereals, the dispute is now shifting to soft fruits such as raspberries and currants, with farmers in Poland expected to be a key constituency in the upcoming Polish general election in October, complaining that lower-priced imports from Ukraine are undercutting them.

The beer setback increased on Tuesday after Ukraine summoned the Polish ambassador in Kiev over “unacceptable” comments made by a senior Polish official.

In one Polish media interviewMarcin Przydacz, head of Poland’s international policy office, said Kiev should “start to appreciate the role that Poland has played for Ukraine in recent months and years”, prompting to go of Ukrainian officials who took the ambassador from Warsaw and caused Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to later dump Kiev.

“The summoning of the Polish ambassador, a representative of the country who was the only one left in Kiev on the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine should never have happened Morawiecki said. said.

“Given the enormity of the support that Poland has given to Ukraine, these mistakes should not happen,” added the prime minister.