Ukraine’s loss from border blockade yet to be announced but Poland “losing more” - PM
The Ukrainian side will later announce the amount of damage caused by the blockade of the Polish-Ukrainian border, but Poland is losing more than Ukraine.
This was stated by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who spoke at the annual press conference on the results of the government's four years of work, reports an Ukrinform correspondent.
The head of the Ukrainian government noted that the Ukrainian side is calculating the damages caused by the blockade of the Polish-Ukrainian border and is yet to announce the exact amount.
"Now I don't want to manipulate the numbers because we found some compensators through the sea corridor, some – with our partners Romania, Moldova; and Hungary and Slovakia gave us their helping hand. That is, a certain redistribution did take place, and not all losses are so straightforward. The absurdity of the situation is that Poland is losing more than Ukraine in this struggle. The question is that Ukraine's losses today are paid for with the blood of our people, including farmers who die in the fields from mines and strikes, losing their equipment. Therefore, the issue here is not economic losses, but the moral aspect," Shmyhal said.
The prime minister also noted that Poland took note of the ongoing imports from Russia and Belarus and expressed readiness to move toward Ukraine in this regard.
"We see that Poland, Polish society, their government and farmers have paid attention to imports to Poland and the EU from Russia and Belarus and third countries. We already see this in communication and understand that work is already underway in the European Commission and here we act as a common front," said the head of the Ukrainian government.
Shmyhal also noted the work of the Polish police and local administrations, their tolerant attitude in the context of the crossing of goods that Ukraine prioritizes.
"All illegal manifestations are stopped by the Polish police very quickly. Moreover... in some cases, where misunderstandings arise, the Polish police immediately react, for example, they take certain cargoes out of the queue, escort them, and help our carriers in certain cases, we are aware of that," said the government head.
He expressed the opinion that the Polish government is expressing readiness to move step by step in rapprochement with the Ukrainian side, and drew attention to the platform for reaching a compromise at the government level, to which agrarian associations also join.
"We see that our messages have been heard and work is underway on each of them," concluded Shmyhal.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in a video address on March 3 stated that the situation on the border with Poland, where the crossing of trucks is being blocked, has long gone beyond the limits of economics and morality.
Since February 9, 2024, farmers have been protesting on the roads by border checkpoints on the territory of Poland. Their main demands include a ban on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products and Poland's rejection of the European Green Deal.
Since protests emerged, there have been five cases where Ukrainian agricultural products were dumped from freight rail cars onto the tracks or from trucks – onto the roads.
Photo: Shmyhal/Telegram