Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine, said on Radio Liberty that the consensus on Ukrainian agricultural products proposed by Ukraine takes into account all the concerns of Polish farmers.
He emphasized that Ukraine insists on compliance with this consensus and expressed surprise at possible tougher measures, such as a ban on the import of Ukrainian grain to Poland.
"And what outrages us is that the Polish government thinks there are easier solutions, such as a grain ban. This is the only misunderstanding. We want to emphasize again and again: what we are proposing, what we proposed on Friday and Monday, is actually taking into account the interests of Polish farmers in order to lift this unnecessary ban, which is harmful, in fact, for Poland in the first place," Kachka said.
The deputy minister also said that the Polish side has not yet responded to Ukraine's proposal and emphasized Kyiv's readiness for bilateral consultations. Kachka expressed hope for a constructive dialogue with Poland and other EU countries.
Kachka emphasized that if Poland persists in blocking Ukrainian goods, Kyiv will not just let it go.
"I don't want to, but I have to act in such a way as to ban Polish products in response. This will be the worst scenario of all that we have laid down. Because again, the basic scenario is that we have proposed a very effective mechanism that takes into account the interests of Polish farmers. We have a coordination platform with the European Union, which includes all five members. We are still discussing it today. Poland can join. We are also open for bilateral consultations. Unfortunately, I do not have any bilateral consultations with the Polish side scheduled for today. We will not speak the language of ultimatums. We do not repeat the actions of our partners," Kachka said.
As we reported earlier, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki expressed readiness to expand the list of products banned from importation from Ukraine and called on Kyiv "not to escalate the conflict."
