How is Poland Aiding Ukraine?
© AFP 2023 / WOJTEK RADWANSKI
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The neighbors and allies recently locked horns over Warsaw's ban of Kiev’s grain imports. Despite the spat, Warsaw remains one of Kiev’s main supporters amid Russia’s special military operation. So what kind of assistance does Poland give to the Zelensky regime and will this continue? Sputnik explores.
Military Assistance
First and foremost, it’s worth noting that Poland ranks sixth among countries giving Ukraine military help. Since the beginning of the Russian special military operation, Warsaw has sent $3.3 billion worth of military supplies to Kiev, which include tanks, fighter jets, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), artillery and ammunition.
Earlier this week, however, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced in a television interview that Warsaw is “no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons”. The announcement came amid the Warsaw-Kiev clash over the extension of a unilateral ban on Ukrainian agricultural products slapped on Kiev by Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, who cited local farmers’ interests.
Morawiecki said that Poland would now focus on purchasing “the most modern weapons” for its own purposes, adding, “If you want to defend yourself you have to have something to defend with.”
Shortly after, however, Polish President Andrzej Duda tried to walk back Morawiecki’s comments, saying they were “interpreted in the worst possible way.” Duda insisted that in his opinion, the prime minister actually said that Warsaw will not transfer new weapons to Kiev that Poland is “currently purchasing as part of the modernization” of its army.
The Polish president recalled that his country “has contracts signed with Ukraine, for example, on the supply of the Krabs [howitzers].” According to him, Poland still needs to implement that agreement, as well as other contracts, including those related to the supply of ammunition and mine-clearing vehicles, which “are needed for the [Ukrainian] counteroffensive.”
“As we receive new weapons from [South] Korea and the United States, we will loosen the weapons we have in stock today. Perhaps we will transfer weapons that will be removed from the Polish Army to Ukraine, just as we have done so far when we transferred post-Soviet weapons,” Duda pointed out.
He apparently referred to the fact that shortly after the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, Warsaw provided Kiev with 320 Soviet-era tanks, such as T-72s, and 14 MiG-29 fighter jets that were designed and manufactured in the time of the USSR.
Polish and Ukrainian soldiers are seen on a Leopard 2 tank during training at the Swietoszow military base in western Poland on February 13, 2023
© AFP 2023 / WOJTEK RADWANSKI
In a separate move, Poland agreed to provide Ukraine with an additional 60 tanks, including 30 PT-91 Twardy tanks and 14 Leopard 2 main battle tanks. Reports about the delivery of the first four Leopard 2s to Ukraine emerged in late February.
Apart from weapon deliveries, Warsaw rendered military training services to Kiev. Polish instructors provided expert instruction for Ukrainian crews, with a focus on enhancing tactical and practical battlefield skills.
Humanitarian Assistance
It seems the above-mentioned grain imports spat also tarnished Warsaw’s humanitarian aid to Kiev, given that Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller recently told reporters that his country will likely cut financial support to the million Ukrainian refugees Poland is hosting as of next year. More than 15.4 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed the Polish border since the start of the Russian special military operation.
Support for these refugees includes waiving residency requirements and the granting of work permits, free access to schools, as well as medical treatment and family benefits.
“These regulations will simply expire next year. I think the regulations will not be extended to a large extent,” Muller pointed out.
Deputy Family and Social Policy Minister Anna Schmidt, for her part, said that Warsaw had spent about $550 million in child support for Ukrainian families who have fled to Poland since the start of the Russian special operation.
Poland’s envoy to the UN Krzysztof Szczerski earlier claimed that Warsaw is spending about 1.5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on humanitarian aid for Ukraine, which costs the Polish government a total of $181 million.
Right now, there are up to three million Ukrainian refugees in Poland, who “work in all industries, from basic jobs to high-quality technologies,” according to President Andrzej Duda. He stressed that Ukrainian refugees “influence the development” of the Polish economy and remain “an important part” of Poland’s labor market.
Economic Support
Apart from remaining a key transit hub to help Western military equipment reach Ukraine, Warsaw may get “an economic impulse” from helping Kiev as “several agreements between specific ministries” are in the pipeline, according to Morawiecki.
Both sides earlier signed a number of deals on streamlining border traffic and customs controls, cooperation between businesses, and reopening an idled power line to export electricity to Poland from Ukraine.
Media reports said that imports of electricity from Ukraine aim to support the stability of the Polish power system and allow Ukraine to benefit from synchronization of the transmission grid with the European Union network.
Poland, for its part, delivered equipment including cables and transformers to Ukraine to add to restoring electricity supplies in some areas of the countries that had been affected by the hostilities.
Will Poland Continue to Shore Up Ukriane Amid the Grain Row?
With the Warsaw-Kiev grain imports row showing no sign of abating, Polish officials made it clear that their country will go ahead with its aid to Ukraine, given the fact that Warsaw remains one of Kiev’s key supporters.
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, for his part, claimed that “of all the allies, Poles took upon themselves the heaviest burden when it came to helping Ukraine — equivalent to over three percent of the country’s GDP, nearly four times as much as wealthy Germany and almost 10 times more than the United States.”
In an article for a US media outlet, he touched upon Poland’s ban of Ukrainian agricultural imports, stressing that “major Polish political parties — from the left and right of the political spectrum — are in favor of keeping the import ban in place, and that’s an indicator that this is a matter of national economic interest.”
He recalled that Poland “has never been a major recipient of Ukrainian grain” because the country has its own “robust agricultural sector.”
Commenting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent UN General Assembly remarks that “it’s alarming to see how some in Europe play out solidarity in a political theatre – making thriller from the grain,” Rau said that solidarity, in particular, “implies fair burden-sharing among the coalition of the free world.”
“The Polish nation has a legitimate reason to question why it should pay the bill for helping Ukraine twice, while richer European societies are still unwilling to take more responsibility […],” the foreign minister pointed out.
He similarly made it clear that Poland will continue to back Ukraine’s efforts to join NATO and the EU, but added that “Warsaw will also oppose any unfair competition.”
