KYIV, Sept 20 — Ukraine’s foreign ministry urged Poland to “set aside emotions” in a trade dispute between the two countries after Warsaw summoned Ukraine’s ambassador today.
“We urge our Polish friends to put aside their emotions. The Ukrainian side has offered Poland a constructive path to resolve the grain issue,” foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said in a Facebook post.
Poland’s foreign ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador over comments made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the United Nations General Assembly.
The ministry was informed “in detail” about the Ukrainian ambassador’s meeting, Nikolenko said.
During the meeting, the envoy explained Kyiv’s position on the “unacceptability” for Ukraine of the Polish unilateral ban on imports of Ukrainian grain, Nikolenko said.
“We expect that our proposals will become the basis for moving the dialogue into a constructive course,” he said.
Ukraine’s ambassador underlined the “incorrectness” of a comparison with Ukraine made by Polish President Andrzej Duda during his visit to New York, he said.
Duda told reporters yesterday that Ukraine should remember that it receives help from Poland, and likened Kyiv to a “drowning person”.
“I would compare it to something like a drowning person... A drowning person is extremely dangerous because he can pull you to the depths ... He can simply drown the rescuer,” he said. — Reuters
