Polish Prime Minister Criticizes Ukrainian President Zelenskyj's UN Speech on Grain Trade

2023-09-23 19:26:24

In the dispute over grain trade, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has intensified his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj’s recent statements at the UN general debate. “I would like to tell President Zelenskyj that he must never insult the Poles again, as he recently did during his appearance at the United Nations,” said the national-conservative politician in Swidnik on Friday evening, according to the PAP agency. The Poles would never allow this, warned the 55-year-old.

The EU Commission recently decided to lift trade restrictions on Ukrainian grain exports. Poland, however, is sticking to an import ban. Alluding to this, Zelensky said at the UN general debate: “It is alarming to see how some of our friends in Europe are playing a political theater of solidarity and making a thriller out of grain.” These countries would only appear to be playing their own roles , but preparing the stage for the actor from Moscow. The statement caused outrage in Poland.

At the same time, Morawiecki emphasized that a war is being waged for the security of Europe in Ukraine, which is resisting a Russian invasion. The first thing we will do now is to arm ourselves, but we will also help by transporting weapons to Ukraine. The logistics hub in Rzeszow, southeastern Poland, is functioning and will continue to work in cooperation with the allies. Poland is currently in the hot phase of the election campaign ahead of the parliamentary elections on October 15th.

Morawiecki was recently understood to mean that Poland wanted to stop all arms deliveries to its neighboring country at war. Poland’s President Andrzej Duda has since put this into perspective: It is only about the latest weapons that are being purchased for the Polish army – these should not be delivered to Ukraine.

Here you will find content from third parties

In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is necessary, as the providers of the embedded content require this consent as third party providers [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (revocable at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can revoke your consent at any time using the switch and privacy at the bottom of the page.

All developments in the live ticker:

9:24 p.m. – Zelensky makes a stopover in Poland

In view of the recent tensions between Poland and Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is sending signals of friendship to the Polish population. On the way back from the UN headquarters in New York, Zelensky made a stopover in Poland and honored two representatives of civil society for their efforts – a woman and a man who organized medical care for injured Ukrainian children and wounded soldiers. He thanked all Poles who helped Ukraine. Challenges could not shake the bonds between the two peoples.

Here you will find content from third parties

7:50 p.m. – Russia: UN proposals for grain deal “not realistic”

Russia does not rate proposals by UN Secretary General António Guterres to revive the terminated agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain as productive. “We don’t reject them. They are simply not realistic,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday in New York. He emphasized again that despite the now suspended deal, Russia was not able to export its own grain and fertilizer as originally agreed.

An analysis of Guterres’ proposals:

7:01 p.m. – Lavrov: USA and the West want to prevent a multipolar world order

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Western states of inflaming conflicts and artificially dividing the world into hostile blocs. However, the 73-year-old did not directly address the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine in his speech to the general debate at the UN General Assembly. Lavrov said the United States and “its subordinate Western collective” were trying everything to prevent the formation of a “multipolar world order.” “They are trying to force the world to play by their own self-centered rules,” he said.

6:58 p.m. – Ukraine: Former head of the Russian space agency becomes senator for Zaporizhzhia

The former head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, has been appointed senator from the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia region of Ukraine. The region’s governor, Yevgeny Balitsky, said he had authorized Rogozin to become a senator of the Russian Federation by decree. He referred to the “experience and colossal competence” of the former head of Roscosmos, who supports the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

At the beginning of September, Russia held local and regional elections in the four Ukrainian regions whose annexation it announced in September 2022, and then announced the victory of the Kremlin United Russia party. The government in Kiev and Western countries criticized the elections as “illegal”.

3:00 p.m. – Ukraine claims to have shot down 14 Russian drones

According to Ukrainian information on Saturday, Russia carried out attacks on the front in the southeastern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia and in the Dnipropetrovsk region further north with so-called “Shahed” drones of Iranian design. However, according to Ukrainian information, 14 out of 15 Russian drones were shot down.

Separately, the governor of Zaporizhzhia, Yuri Malashko, reported that Russia carried out 86 attacks on 27 settlements in the region on Friday. Many of the places attacked were only a few kilometers away from the fighting. An 82-year-old civilian was killed by artillery fire.

1:14 p.m. – General: Ukraine breaks through Russian lines in the south of the country

The Ukrainian army has broken through Russian defense lines in southern Ukraine, according to the general in charge. “On the left flank” near the village of Verbowe in the Zaporizhzhia region, “we have a breakthrough and we are moving forward,” Oleksandr Tarnawskiji told US television channel CNN in an interview broadcast on Saturday.

The general leading the Ukrainian counteroffensive acknowledged that progress was slower than hoped. “Not as fast as expected, not like in the World War II movies,” Tarnawskiji said. But it is important “not to lose this initiative”.

12:45 p.m. – Ex-Wagner commander who fled to Norway arrested

According to his lawyer, an ex-commander of the Wagner mercenary troop who fled to Norway was arrested on charges of illegally crossing the border into Russia. It was a misunderstanding, explained the Norwegian lawyer Brynjulf Risnes. His client Andrei Medvedev had no intention of crossing the border. He just wanted to find the location of the border through which he fled to Norway in January. Medvedev was not even near the border, but was stopped in a taxi by the police.

Leaving Norway for Russia is only permitted at designated border posts. Medvedev had said he wanted to apply for asylum in Norway because he feared for his life in Russia. However, in May he said he wanted to return to Russia. Medvedev made headlines around the world when he reported on operations with the Wagner mercenary force after his arrival in Norway.

10:55 a.m. – Ukraine: Senior Russian naval officers killed in attack in Sevastopol

According to the Ukrainian army, high-ranking naval officers were also killed in the Ukrainian attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea.

“The details of the attack will be revealed as soon as possible,” the military in Kiev said on Saturday. The rocket fire occurred during a meeting of the Russian naval leadership. Dozens of “occupiers” were killed and injured, it said.

Ukraine attacked the headquarters in Sevastopol on Friday. According to the authorities on the peninsula, which has been annexed by Russia since 2014, a fire broke out as a result of the rocket attack. The Ukrainian army spoke of a “successful attack”. According to Russian information, only one Russian soldier was missing.

10:51 a.m. – Hungary’s Foreign Minister Szijjarto meets Russian counterpart Lavrov

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. “It would be good if other Western politicians also did this,” the Hungarian state news agency MTI quoted him as saying on Friday evening. Then there would be more hope that the war in Ukraine could be ended, he added.

Szijjarto was the only top politician from an EU country to have a meeting with the head of Russian diplomacy on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Hungary maintains good relations with Moscow. This did not change even after the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began in February of the previous year.

Budapest is only half-heartedly supporting the EU sanctions imposed against Russia because of the war. In a number of cases, the Union was unable to adopt its sanctions at all or only in a watered-down form because of Hungarian veto threats.

10:50 a.m. – Russia warns of “danger” of another Ukrainian attack on Crimea

A day after a Ukrainian attack on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet on the annexed Crimean peninsula, Russian authorities have warned of renewed rocket fire. “Danger! Missile danger!” wrote the Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvoshayev, on Saturday in the online Telegram service.

He further instructed the population to close the windows and stay away from them, to get out of cars and public transport and to go to a safe place. A little later he declared that the “danger is over.” The governor had previously reported that parts of a rocket had fallen “outside the city”.

9:13 a.m.: Another explosion in Sevastopol – Russians talk about anti-aircraft defenses

One day after the Ukrainians’ successful attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, there were new explosions on the annexed Crimean peninsula. “According to preliminary information, air defense was deployed in Sevastopol,” the area’s Russian crew chief, Mikhail Razvoshayev, wrote on Telegram. Missile debris fell in a district north of the city where the Black Sea Fleet has its main base, he added. This could not be independently verified.

10:58 p.m. – Report: Biden is said to have promised Zelensky ATACMS missiles

According to consistent US media reports, the United States could soon provide Ukraine with longer-range ATACMS missiles. The US government will soon provide the weapons system requested by Kiev for defense in the Russian war of aggression, they reported „Washington Post“ and the US broadcaster NBC News on Friday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter.

According to the Washington Post, it is an ATACMS variant that can be equipped with cluster munitions. NBC News reported that US President Joe Biden promised to provide Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with “a small number” of ATACMS during his visit to Washington on Thursday.

The US government did not confirm the reports. “I have nothing to announce,” said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre when asked at the press briefing on Friday. But it has always been made clear in the past that the ATACMS are not off the table.

An ATACMS system in action off the coast of South Korea (photo taken July 5, 2017)

What: via REUTERS

Ukraine has long been demanding ATACMS missiles from Lockheed Martin with a range of up to 300 kilometers. They are fired from the ground at targets on the ground and hit very precisely. Newer models can be steered, older ones cannot. Because of their range, they are often compared to the German Taurus marching bodies, which Kiev also demands. The Taurus cruise missiles are suitable for destroying bunkers and protected command posts up to 500 kilometers away.

With both weapon systems there is concern that they could also attack targets in Russia. However, Kiev rejects this as unfounded. In addition to ATACMS and Taurus, the weapons with a range of hundreds of kilometers also include the Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, which Kiev received from Great Britain and France.

10:55 p.m. – Canada’s Prime Minister promises Ukraine an aid package worth 453 million euros

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised Ukraine financial aid totaling 650 million Canadian dollars (around 453 million euros) during a visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky. The three-year aid package includes around 50 armored vehicles and the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, Trudeau told the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa.

He will continue to support Ukraine “strongly and unequivocally.” The aid now promised is in addition to around 8.9 billion Canadian dollars that Ottawa has already provided.

Zelensky said: “When we ask the world for support, it is not just about an ordinary conflict.” It is about “saving the lives of millions of people – literally our salvation.”

1695501918
#Ukraine #News #Morawiecki #Zelenskyj #insult #Poles

Polish Prime Minister Criticizes Ukrainian President Zelenskyj’s UN Speech on Grain Trade