Defense against Russia
Poland’s head of government sparks speculation about a weapons ban for Ukraine
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyj (l.) and Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki after the purchase of Polish armored personnel carriers in April
© Michal Dyjuk / AP / DPA
The Polish-language service of the PAP news agency interpreted Morawiecki’s statements differently than the English-language service. In the Polish version, the head of government was not portrayed in such a way that a complete arms supply freeze could be clearly deduced.
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 Polsat News television channel on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki responded 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 arms to Ukraine, but rather equip 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.
The context suggests that there is no complete ban on weapons
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 initially left a request from the German Press Agency for clarification unanswered.
New arms deliveries
After Zelensky’s visit: The federal government promises Ukraine these weapons
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.
Editor’s note: An earlier version, citing the AFP news agency, said that Poland had stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine. However, there are different statements regarding the quotes from Poland’s head of government and no clarification from Warsaw yet. We have therefore adapted the article