Burç Eruygur
21 February 2024•Update: 22 February 2024
ISTANBUL
Amid a strong protest by Polish farmers who blocked main entry points with Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday called for a meeting with Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk within four days to resolve issues concerning his country's grain exports.
“I have directed our government to arrive at the border between our countries in the near future, by February 24 … I urge you, Donald, Mr. Prime Minister, to come to the border as well,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on X.
Protests are taking place in several hundred towns across Poland to oppose the European Union's agricultural policy, the Green Deal, and duty-free import of agri-food goods from Ukraine.
The talks offered by Zelenskyy come a day after Polish farmers intensified their protest by blocking rail transport in the village of Medyka on the Ukrainian border and pouring grain from incoming Ukrainian wagons onto rail tracks.
“The whole world saw flagrantly dumped from trucks and railroad cars on Polish roads. This is the grain that our farmers and peasants cultivate with great difficulty, despite all of the hardships caused by Russia's brutal aggression,” Zelenskyy said.
He added that Ukraine seeks to resolve the situation in a “joint and fair” manner, with a “completely pragmatic” approach.
They are witnessing "excessive and unfair politicization" that threatens common achievements between Ukraine and the EU, he said.
The Ukrainian president also urged his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda to support this dialogue offer, saying the issue is about "national security" because the blockade threatens the supply of weapons to the Ukrainian military, and stressing talks "must not be delayed."
He is ready to travel to his country's border with Poland, Ukraine's president said, adding that Kyiv has requested that a representative from the European Commission also attend the meeting.
“We have had enough of Moscow's presence in our lands. We have had enough of misunderstandings. We should not humiliate each other, we should not humiliate either Ukrainian or Polish farmers. We need unity. We need solutions — between us, Ukraine and Poland, and at the level of the whole of Europe,” he said.
