“We want to help Ukraine, but we cannot allow this help to bring very negative effects to our citizens. We are constantly looking for a solution that will protect the Polish market from being flooded with clearly cheaper agricultural products (from Ukraine),” Tusk said, adding it would be a “temporary” and “painful” solution for both sides.
Tusk’s comments appeared to be addressed to Polish farmers, with whom he plans to meet on Thursday. A senior Ukrainian government minister denied, however, that any talks on a border closure were taking place.
“No one from the Ukrainian side is conducting negotiations on closing the borders with Poland,” Deputy Prime Minister Oleksander Kubrakov, whose remit includes reconstruction and infrastructure, said on his ministry’s Facebook page. “For us, a stably functioning border is a matter of survival in a war with the Russian aggressor.
“We have great respect for our Polish friends and have offered constructive solutions, as well as taken steps to ease tensions on the border. We expect appropriate decisions from the side of the Polish government so that the situation does not reach a dead end. Such a decision will not be beneficial to anyone, except our common enemy.”
The Ukrainian government complained at the weekend that Polish protesters had dumped some 160 tons of Ukrainian grain from rail cars bound for export via the northern port of Gdańsk.
Farmers across Europe have taken to the streets this year, with many blaming growing imports of Ukrainian grain, poultry and sugar for their woes. Meanwhile, leaders — from Emmanuel Macron in France to Olaf Scholz in Germany and Giorgia Meloni in Italy — have bowed to their wrath and offered up costly concessions.
