Ukraine and Poland hold talks: border closure not mentioned
28 February 2024 20:41
Today, 28 February, representatives of Ukraine and Poland held talks on unblocking the border. The option of suspending trade was not mentioned. This was announced by Ukraine’s trade representative Taras Kachka on Facebook, Kommersant Ukrainian reports 
The talks with Polish Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Hetman and Minister of Agriculture Czeslaw Sekerski lasted 4 hours.
“We managed to reach an understanding and are working on a constructive solution to unblock the border and take into account the interests of farmers in Poland and Ukraine. It is not easy, but it is possible,”
– kachka said.
According to him, the proposals of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal to unblock the border are important for building mutual understanding.
“During the four hours of negotiations, the option of closing the border was not mentioned. As Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said quite clearly, it would be a very painful decision for our economies,”
– said the trade representative.
He clarified that stopping trade, which is worth $11.7 billion in annual terms, even for a day is too painful. And this is not to mention transit.
“No details yet, but a constructive solution is possible. Therefore, I encourage everyone to read Donald Tusk’s statement fully and carefully – with all the elements of rhetoric and punctuation. News headlines can be misleading. At this moment, more than ever, we will remain calm and work hard,”
– kachka said.
Border blockade
Problems at the border began on 6 November 2023, when Polish transport companies began blocking truck traffic at three major checkpoints on the Ukrainian border: “Korczowa-Krakowiec, Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska, and Dorohusk-Yagodyn. One of the requirements was to reinstate the permits for Ukrainian carriers that had been cancelled under the agreement with the EU by 30 June 2024.
On6 January, truck traffic to the Medyka-Shehyni border crossingin Poland resumed. Three other border crossing points were opened on 17 January, namely Dorohusk – Yagodyn, Hrebenne – Rava-Ruska, and Korczowa – Krakivets.
on 9 February 2024, Polish farmers began a new nationwide strike and blockade of the border with Ukraine, which will last until 10 March. It was initiated by the independent farmers’ trade union Solidarity. The main demand of the protesters is to cancel the preferential trade regime with Ukraine and to return the permit system for importing goods into Poland.
Meanwhile, Poland has already imposed an embargo on Ukrainian grain, Polish Deputy Agriculture Minister Michal Kolodziejczak said.
Polish Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Hetman, in turn, said that Poland could impose an embargo on all Ukrainian agricultural products.
Ukrainians responded by blocking the border for Polish trucks.
The situation is deteriorating every day. There are cases of Ukrainian agricultural products in transit being dumped in Poland. For example, on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, on 24 February, at around 9am, unknown persons damaged freight wagons with beans. And on 25 February, eight wagons with Ukrainian corn were opened.
