Poland
Morawiecki sparks speculation about weapons for Ukraine
An interview with Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is causing speculation. photo
© Uwe Anspach/dpa
Is the NATO country Poland stopping its arms deliveries to Ukraine? Such a decision would have enormous potential for conflict. But the statements made by Poland’s heads of government are not clear.
In the conflict over the Polish import ban on Ukrainian grain Poland’s head of government caused speculation with a statement about arms deliveries to Kiev. In an interview on the TV channel Polsat News, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki replied to the moderator’s question as to whether Poland would continue to support Ukraine with arms deliveries and humanitarian aid despite the grain dispute: “We are no longer supplying armaments to Ukraine, but are arming ourselves with the most modern weapons.”
Morawiecki went on to say that Poland has enormously expanded its orders for military equipment. “If you don’t want to defend yourself, you have to have something to defend yourself with – we adhere to this rule.” The armed forces should be modernized so that Poland will have one of the strongest land armies in Europe, said Morawiecki.
Context allows for different interpretation
While his first statement about armaments appeared to be clearly formulated, the context of the interview suggested that Morawiecki probably did not mean a complete stop to Polish arms deliveries to Kiev – rather, he seemed to emphasize that Poland was not only supplying arms to the neighboring country, but at the same time I am also upgrading my own army.
However, several Polish news portals, including the English-language service of the state news agency PAP, interpreted Morawiecki’s statement to mean that Poland would stop supplying weapons to Ukraine in light of the grain conflict. The Polish government has so far left a request from the German Press Agency for clarification unanswered.
City of Rzeszow as a “hub”
At another point in the interview, Morawiecki emphasized that the government in Warsaw would in no way endanger Ukraine’s security. “Our hub in Rzeszow will continue to play the same role as before and in the future in agreement with the Americans and NATO,” he assured. A large part of Western military aid for Ukraine in its defense against the aggressor Russia goes through the city of Rzeszow in southeastern Poland.
The EU and NATO country Poland is not only one of Ukraine’s most important political and military supporters. Since the Russian war of aggression began in February 2022, it has also taken in a large number of war refugees from the neighboring country.