The arguments of Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine, have reassured Polish Minister of Agriculture Robert Telusz, and he is ready to talk to Ukraine. The Polish side wants to find a solution that will protect Polish farmers and help Ukraine, he told the Polish newspaper rar.pl.
Earlier, in an interview with the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, Ukraine's Trade Representative Taras Kachka made it clear that Ukraine would impose an embargo on Polish onions, tomatoes, cabbage and apples. On RMF24, Kachka explained that Ukraine's embargo is the last item on the action plan, and Ukraine hopes that this measure will not be implemented. Ukraine's priority is to reach an agreement with Poland.
Telusz emphasized that the Polish side is ready to find a solution to the problem of grain from Ukraine.
"We are waiting for such negotiations and we are ready for such negotiations to take place," he said, adding that Poland is open to finding a solution that will secure the Polish market, protect it and help Ukraine," he assured.
"We want to help Ukraine with transit, but it should be transit, not at the expense of Polish farmers. Minister Kaczka's speech was a kind of calming and defusing of the atmosphere that had been building up for two or three days. I think that Ukraine has reconsidered its opinion, which was voiced earlier," Telusz said.
He believes that this is "a move in the right direction to find a common solution."
Telusz also pointed out that the list of products banned from importation into specific countries should be flexible. As an example, he cited Bulgaria, which needs Ukrainian sunflower and can import it.
"This should be a decision at the EU level," the Polish minister said.
As a reminder, after the restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products were lifted on September 15, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia imposed unilateral bans. Poland expanded the list of products banned for import to include flour and cereals. Hungary brought the list to 24 items.
The conflict escalated after Ukraine filed a WTO lawsuit against these three countries for banning the import of Ukrainian agricultural products.
And today, on September 20, Poland summoned the Ukrainian ambassador because of Zelenskyy's statements at the UN General Assembly, in which he criticized Poland for imposing a grain embargo.