Grain spat drags Ukraine’s ties with ally Poland to lowest point since start of Russian invasion

By VANESSA GERA and MONIKA SCISLOWSKA
Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A dispute about whether Ukrainian grain should be allowed to enter the domestic markets of Poland and other European Union countries has pushed the tight relationship between Kyiv and Warsaw to its lowest point since Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Polish leaders have compared Ukraine to a drowning person hurting his helper and threatened to expand a ban on food products from the war-torn country. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that EU allies that are prohibiting imports of his nation’s grain are helping Russia. Poland has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine. But Polish officials, who are trying to win parliamentary elections next month with the help from farmers’ votes, are expressing dismay over Ukraine’s trade complaint.