Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that "Ukraine is only useful to Poland as an instrument of anti-Russian policy." Commenting on statements made by Poland's Minister of Development and Technology, Waldemar Buda, regarding the ban on Ukrainian grain imports, Zakharova noted that "such a decision reveals, from my perspective, the fictitious concern of the West for the hungry and those in need of food (in the world)." She said, "Imagine, this is how Poland speaks to Ukraine while still needing it, as a subject, as several tools against Russia. And when the borders are erased, when Warsaw absorbs and swallows the remnants of Ukraine, no one will talk to the local population at all."
Poland and Hungary announced a temporary ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine from April 16 to June 30. Both countries indicated that they were forced to take this action due to the lack of response from the European Commission to their demands for assistance for Polish and Hungarian farmers who are incurring massive losses due to the influx of Ukrainian agricultural products in their markets.
Last Friday, six EU member states, including Hungary and Poland, called for the establishment of a unified European mechanism for purchasing Ukrainian grain and for tariff quotas on Ukrainian agricultural products within the EU. Polish Justice Minister and Attorney General Zbigniew Ziobro announced the "creation of an investigation team with representatives from various agencies to investigate fraud in the supply of Ukrainian grain."
The Polish prosecutor accused EU officials of selfishness, limited to shifting the responsibility of providing food aid to Ukraine onto neighboring countries. In turn, Kyiv responded to Poland, stating that "Poland violated the grain agreement following Warsaw's decision to ban the import of Ukrainian food products into the country, as well as prohibiting transits across its territory to other countries."
