Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has not coordinated his statement on the supply of weapons to Ukraine with the Polish Foreign Ministry, according to RMF24.
On 20 September, answering the question of whether Poland will continue to support Ukraine militarily amid the controversy between Poland and Ukraine over the import of Ukrainian grain, Mateusz Morawiecki said that Poland is not currently providing Ukraine with any weapons and has no such plans because the Polish government decided to prioritize the strengthening of Polish defense.
Morawiecki’s statement came against the backdrop of tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv over unilateral Polish restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural products and Ukraine’s decision to file a complaint to the World Trade Organization over import bans.
This statement of the Polish Prime Minister allegedly took Poland’s Foreign Ministry by surprise and was not coordinated with the Polish diplomatic department, according to RMF24. According to unnamed sources of RMF24 in Poland’s Foreign Ministry, Polish diplomats are waiting for instructions from Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau (currently in the United States) and declining any comments on the statement made by the Polish Prime Minister.
When it comes to Poland’s arms supplies to Ukraine, Poland only implements previously agreed contracts, including the largest contract since 1989 for the supply of Polish-made Krab self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine’s Armed Forces, according to RMF24 journalist Krzysztof Zasada with reference to unnamed sources in Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Unnamed officials in the Polish Foreign Ministry stressed that a logistics center for foreign military assistance to Ukraine continues to operate in Poland.
According to the Polish government, Poland has provided Kyiv with more than three billion euros of military aid since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Polish military assistance to Ukraine included ammunition, armored vehicles, tanks, self-propelled howitzers, and Soviet-era fighter jets.
According to RMF24, Morawiecki’s statement may have implied that Poland had already supplied Ukraine with all the weapons it could have given without creating risks to its defense capabilities.
The Rosomak combat vehicles and Rak self-propelled mortar launchers are currently being manufactured for Ukraine in Poland.
Related:
- Poland stops supplying weapons to Ukraine amid grain dispute
- Ukraine to sue Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia over grain ban
- Two cargo ships arrive in Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port to load grain amid Russia’s blockade
- Romania and Ukraine work together to regulate Ukrainian grain exports
