Zelensky & Polish Pres. Meet In NYC Amid Strained Relations

Earlier today, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in NYC in order to discuss the heightened tensions between the two allies in recent days and weeks. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda met separately with both leaders acting in a mediating role. On 18 September, Ukraine filed official complaints with the WTO against Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia regarding the restrictions imposed on the import of Ukrainian grain by the three nations, threatening retaliatory action.

• On 20 September, Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki stated that "We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons,". Seeearlier bulletfor more details.
• Nausėda stated that unity is needed not just for the security of individual states, but for the entire region. He proposed to Zelenskyy and Duda that the two sides should ease grain transport through Poland and increase transit through [non-neighbouring] Lithuania. This could reduce the impact of major increases of supply on the Polish market, which has seen domestic prices tumble hitting farmers.
• Poland remains one of the most important allies for Ukraine with regard to both provision of materiel as well as providing logistical and humanitarian support, alongside the US and UK, and it appears unlikely that this will change materially.
• The current spat also comes as the Polish general election looms on 15 October. As such, politicians from the governing right-wing United Right alliance could lean on more protectionist/populist rhetoric in the short term to bolster support.