Ukraine has proposed a five-point plan to Poland to resolve the blockage of their border due to Polish protesters for four months. PM Denys Shmyhal publicized the plan via Telegram.
- Ukraine accepts agricultural export restrictions recently proposed by the EU Commission targeting specific products like poultry, eggs and sugar;
- Ukraine requests the EU Commission to urgently review Kyiv’s agricultural policies and transportation to definitively address quality concerns;
- Ukraine and Poland jointly call on the EU to halt Russian agricultural imports which have actually increased since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine;
- A “tripartite task force” between Ukraine, Poland and the EU Commission focused on resolving outstanding trade issues should be formed;
- Poland ends the border blockade which has trapped over 9,000 trucks on both sides.
“Otherwise, Ukraine reserves the right to implement countermeasures,” wrote Shmyhal.
Earlier on 23 February, a proposed border meeting between Ukrainian and Polish officials did not occur. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal arrived at the border checkpoint hoping to address the blockade, but Polish officials did not show up.
https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1761074181607719258
“We understand the difficulties faced by the Polish government. The President of Ukraine offered the Polish leadership a platform to agree and find a compromise – here at the border, as equal partners and allies. Unfortunately, such a meeting with Polish officials did not take place today,” Shmyhal wrote in a Telegram post.
Shmyhal was joined at the border by other Ukrainian officials, including two Vice Prime Ministers, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.
Earlier on 23 February, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a briefing in Lviv that a group of Ukrainian officials would go to the Polish border that day to meet with Polish counterparts. However, he said he did not know if Poland would participate.
On 21 February, Zelenskyy himself proposed the border meeting to unblock Ukraine’s borders. He said he would also be willing to attend.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1760652823216243091
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk later rejected the proposal as “unnecessary symbolism,” while President Andrzej Duda was open to dialogue.
Polish protesters demand Warsaw and the EU ban Ukraine’s grain imports. However, Ukraine’s exports do not currently reach Poland due to Warsaw’s embargo, violating the EU-Ukraine trade deal.
Read more:
- Poland ditches Ukraine border meeting called by Zelenskyy
- Zelenskyy calls for dialogue with Poland over border blockade
- Polish border protesters vandalize Ukrainian trucks, spilling grain
- Polish farmers block Ukraine border, spill grain, as Ukrainian truckers protest against blockade
- Poland probes grain dumping by Polish protestors from Ukrainian trucks
