Food and hot meals delivered to Ukrainian drivers blocked at Polish border

According to Ukrinform, the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine reported this on Facebook.

"The team of the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure, together with volunteers from international organizations, distributed 500 servings of hot meals and food packages at the blocked checkpoints "Korczowa - Krakivets" and "Medyka - Shehyni". The aid is provided with the financial support of the Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) and the Howard Buffett Foundation," the statement said.

Starting tomorrow, volunteers will deliver 500-700 meals on a regular basis.

"Thank you for the continued support of the Global Empowerment Mission and the Howard Buffett Foundation. I also thank our drivers for their endurance, especially now, when provocations are becoming more frequent. The team of the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure is cooperating at all levels to resolve the situation," said Oleksandr Kubrakov, Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure.

The Ministry of Infrastructure reminded that the government has developed a "Plan of Understanding" to resolve the situation at the border. One of the points of the plan is the creation of a trilateral headquarters jointly with Poland and the European Commission. This headquarters should work around the clock, and the issue of blocking the border should be resolved by March 28, the date when a joint meeting of the governments of Ukraine and Poland is to take place. Otherwise, Ukraine reserves the right to apply mirror measures at the checkpoints.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, since February 9, 2024, Polish farmers have been protesting on the roads leading to checkpoints near the border with Ukraine. Polish farmers are blocking roads for truck traffic to protest what they claim is excessive imports of Ukrainian products to the Polish market.

The blockade of the Polish-Ukrainian border has been going on, with short interruptions, since the beginning of November last year. In addition to farmers, it also involved carriers.

President Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the government to be at the border with Poland by February 24 to resolve the blockade. He also invited the head of the Polish government, Donald Tusk, to visit the border, and Polish President Andrzej Duda to support this dialogue.

At the same time, Tusk said that a meeting between the governments of Ukraine and Poland would take place on March 28 in Warsaw, and that until then, the two countries would work at a technical level to resolve economic problems.

On February 23, representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine arrived at the border with Poland to resolve the blockade, while Polish officials did not. The meeting did not take place.

On the same day, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine had developed and was offering Poland a plan to de-block the border, the "Plan of Understanding," which consists of five steps.