Duda refuses to meet with Zelensky and says Ukraine is behaving like a drowning man – pulling him down
Commenting on the decision to impose restrictions on imports from Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda compared the country to “a drowning man who can be dragged to the bottom.”
“Anyone who has ever participated in the rescue of a drowning person knows that they are extremely dangerous because they can pull you into the depths. He has incredible strength due to personal fear, adrenaline rush, and can simply drown the rescuer. They say that a drowning man is grasping at straws, but in fact he is grasping at everything he can. It’s a bit like the situation between Poland and Ukraine,” Duda told Polish journalists in New York, where the United Nations General Assembly is taking place, on the evening of September 19.
Duda also called on Ukraine to remember the assistance it receives from Poland. “Ukraine is under Russian attack, undoubtedly in a very difficult situation, and it is grasping at everything it can. Is it possible to be offended by it? Of course, we can complain. Do we need to act in such a way as to avoid being drowned? Of course, we must protect ourselves, because if the drowning person harms us and drowns us, they will not get help. So we have to take care of our interests, and we will do it effectively and decisively,” PAP quoted him as saying.
Duda did not meet with Zelensky
Duda also said he was unable to hold a scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York. According to him, this happened because of delays in his speeches at the General Assembly: first, his speech was planned, then the negotiations, but in fact his speech took place at the time for which the meeting was scheduled.
According to him, the issue of a meeting with Zelenskyy is currently “off the agenda.” However, Duda did not rule out that it could take place later.
Zelensky on the “grain thriller”: helping Moscow
During his speech at the UN General Assembly, Zelensky touched upon the topic of restricting Ukrainian imports.
“It’s disturbing to see how some in Europe, some of our friends in Europe, are playing out solidarity in political theater, making a thriller out of grain. It may seem that they are playing their own role, but in fact they are helping to prepare the stage for the Moscow actor,” he said.
Ukraine is preparing an embargo on imports from Poland
In turn, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative Taras Kachka told Polish journalists that “in the next few days” they are preparing to impose retaliatory import restrictions on four Polish goods.
As he told Rzeczpospolita, these are onions, tomatoes, cabbage, and apples.
As a reminder, Poland unilaterally imposed a national ban on imports of four Ukrainian agricultural products.
