Poland and Ukraine will begin “competing” after the resolution of hostilities between Kiev and Moscow, Mikhail Podoliak, the top aide to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, has claimed.
The senior official made the remarks on Friday during a live appearance on Ukrainian TV. The existing “friendship” between Poland and Ukraine will not last forever, he warned.
“Today, Poland is the most-close partner and the most close friend for us. And, basically, it will remain as such until the end of the war,” Podoliak stated.
After the hostilities end the two countries will be “competing” with each other, he added, struggling to control “these or those markets, consumer markets, and so on.”
Over the course of the ongoing conflict, Warsaw has asserted itself as the main backer of Ukraine in Eastern Europe and one of its main supporters among Western countries. It has lavishly supplied Ukraine with assorted weaponry and military hardware while at the same time becoming a top hub for war-supply deliveries from elsewhere. In addition, the heavy presence of Polish-speaking mercenaries fighting for Kiev has been repeatedly reported from the frontline.
The seemingly flourishing ties between Poland and Ukraine, however, have been heavily dented by a bitter row over agricultural produce. Earlier this year, Poland and other Eastern European nations endured mass protests by farmers, who called for an embargo on cheaper Ukrainian produce, which had damaged local markets.
The situation was temporarily defused by Brussels, which introduced ‘temporary restrictions’ on Ukrainian exports in May in order to protect farmers in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria. However, the ban does not prohibit the transit of Ukrainian agricultural produce.
This week, Polish agriculture minister Robert Telus vowed to unilaterally embargo Ukrainian produce should the EU fail to extend the restrictions, set to expire on September 15.
“I want to make it clear that after September 15, Ukrainian grain will still not be transported to Poland,” Telus warned.