Poland may ban the import of additional Ukrainian food products, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday, warning Kyiv against escalating a dispute over grain imports as Warsaw strengthens its position ahead of elections in October.

Poland has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies since Russia invaded the country in February 2022, but the countries are now embroiled in a deepening conflict over agricultural imports as Poland, along with Hungary and Slovakia, extended a ban on grain imports from the invading country. Vladimir Putin.

A spokesman for the World Trade Organization confirmed on Tuesday that Ukraine has taken the first step in the trade dispute by filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization.

The organization did not name the countries, although Kyiv previously stated that the complaint was aimed at Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

Also on Tuesday, Ukraine said it would impose restrictions on imports of certain goods from Poland and Hungary if they do not lift unilateral bans, prompting a response from Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

“I am warning the Ukrainian authorities because if they escalate the conflict in this way, we will extend the ban on the import of more products into the territory of the Republic of Poland,” Morawiecki told Polsat News.

Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced on Friday that they were unilaterally banning grain imports from Ukraine after the European Commission decided not to extend the ban on sales to Ukraine’s five EU neighbors, including Romania and Bulgaria.

The ban was imposed to protect farmers in the region from the flow of grain and food imports from Ukraine, as the incursion has largely blocked its preferred routes through Black Sea ports.

“Political Theater”

Poland will hold parliamentary elections on October 15, and the ruling nationalist Law and Justice party is facing a challenge from the far-right, who accuse it of being too soft on Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in his speech at the UN General Assembly that Kyiv “is working hard to preserve overland routes for the export of grain”, and the “political theater” surrounding the import of grain is only a help to Moscow, said the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi. on Tuesday in a speech to the UN General Assembly.

His statements were not accepted in Warsaw.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “went too far,” Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminskiy told private radio station Radio Zet on Wednesday.

In a live broadcast on Facebook, Morawiecki said that Warsaw is ready to help Kyiv, but “not at the cost of destabilizing the Polish market.”

On the Ukrainian side, Trade Representative Taras Kachka appeared to want to ease tensions, telling private Polish radio station RMF FM that he did not believe Kyiv would impose an embargo on Polish apples and vegetables.

Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus told state news agency PAP that he took Kaczka’s words as a way to “calm down a certain atmosphere that has been building for two or three days.”