KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrived in Ukraine’s capital Monday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on how Poland can preserve supporting the nation’s virtually two-year battle with Russia and resolve a dispute between the neighboring nations over grain shipments and trucking.
Tusk, who returned to energy in Poland final month and is eager to indicate {that a} change in authorities will not carry a change in Ukraine coverage, was additionally on account of meet with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
“There are some conflicts of curiosity, we all know it nicely and we are going to discuss them, however not solely within the spirit of friendship, which is apparent, however with the perspective to resolve these issues as quickly as doable, to not keep or multiply them,” Tusk mentioned, in line with feedback posted on X, previously Twitter, by his workplace.
“For me, it is vitally vital to construct the sensation that Poland is essentially the most dependable, most steady ally of Ukraine on this lethal conflict with evil,” Tusk mentioned.
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The Ukrainian army, nevertheless, denied it had something to do with the assault.
It was not instantly doable to confirm both aspect’s claims.
Located on NATO’s jap flank, Poland has been considered one of Ukraine’s strongest allies in its battle to defeat Russia. The authorities in Warsaw has offered weapons and humanitarian assist, and opened its borders to Ukrainian refugees since Moscow’s troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
But relations soured final 12 months as financial competitors from Ukrainian meals producers and truckers angered Poles who mentioned their livelihoods have been beneath menace.
Polish farmers and truckers blockaded border crossings, inflicting backups and threatening the circulate of some assist going into Ukraine.
Polish farmers complained that imports of Ukrainian meals had prompted costs to fall, hurting their incomes, whereas truckers mentioned they have been being undercut by their Ukrainian counterparts. The problem surfaced throughout the battle as Ukrainian ports have been blocked and meals producers turned to street routes via Europe to get their merchandise to market.
At one level, Poland and another European nations banned Ukrainian grain imports due to the commerce dispute.
Polish farmers and vans have ended their protests for now, however Tusk is in search of methods of addressing their considerations. He has mentioned that his nation needs to assist Ukraine economically however not on the expense of Polish companies. He has urged that Ukraine wants to higher regulate its trucking business.
Tusk was additionally scheduled to honor Ukrainian fighters and attend observances of the Day of Ukraine’s Unity, which marks Ukraine’s lengthy wrestle to be unbiased from each its jap and western neighbors.
In different war-related developments, Ukraine’s air drive mentioned it intercepted all eight Shahed drones that Russia launched in a single day over southern and central areas of Ukraine.
Debris from three drones shot down over the central Dnipropetrovsk area began a fireplace at an unnamed enterprise however no human casualties have been reported.
Meanwhile, main Ukrainian digital banking platform Monobank mentioned it got here beneath a large denial-of-service (DoS) assault by unidentified hackers.
The assault was efficiently repelled, the financial institution mentioned, with no main penalties. Monobank is considered one of Ukraine’s largest banks.
This story has been corrected to indicate that Denys Shmyhal is Ukraine’s prime minister, not protection minister.