PM Shmyhal arrives in Poland to meet Tusk, other Polish officials

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on March 28 that he arrived in Poland for meetings with his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, and other Polish government officials.

Poland has been one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters since the outbreak of the full-scale war, donating some $3.2 billion in military aid and hosting around 1 million Ukrainian refugees.

In the past few months, Polish-Ukrainian relations have been somewhat strained by the ongoing disputes over agricultural trade and intermittent blockades by Polish truckers and farmers at Ukraine's border.

The talks are expected to focus on Poland’s military aid for Ukraine, the situation at the Polish-Ukrainian border, and "development of trade and infrastructure," Shmyhal said in a post on X.

"We count on a pragmatic and constructive dialogue and the development of effective solutions," he added.

Amid Shmyhal’s trip, Polish farmers temporarily stopped blocking one of the border crossings with Ukraine, Uhryniv-Dolhobychuv, Ukraine's State Border Guard reported on March 28. It added that cargo vehicles can pass without delay in both directions.

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Polish farmers launched a new blockade at Ukraine's border in February in response to Ukrainian agricultural imports and EU environmental policies.

The two key demands by Polish farmers include higher subsidies and the postponement of the Green Deal, which aims to halve pesticide use, lower fertilizer use, and drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Poland's Economic Development and Technology Minister Krzysztof Hetman told Radio Lublin on March 25 that talks on creating a licensing system for trading Ukrainian goods have progressed and may be completed in the coming days.

Warsaw has also recently decided to double its commitment to the Czech-led initiative to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine, according to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.

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