Polish minister left stunned by Ukraine's trade representative's actions

Polish Minister of Agriculture Robert Telus is unpleasantly impressed by Ukrainian trade representative Taras Kachka, the official said this on RMF FM on Tuesday.

"It's a big surprise for me. It's incredible what Minister Taras Kachka is doing [in fact, he's a deputy minister - ed.]. Until now, I hoped that he was doing it on his own behalf, but I see that now he's convincing his government to make such decisions," the minister said after Taras Kachka announced a possible embargo on onions, tomatoes, cabbage and apples from Poland.

In an interview with Rzeczpospolita, Taras Kachka said that Poland has no right to ban Ukrainian products, but it not only continued the embargo, which was planned as temporary, but also extended it to flour and meal.

Telus replied that the ban on apples and vegetables will indeed be a problem for Poland, but the country will cope with it. "But it is not known whether Ukraine will manage," he said.

Since the end of last week, the trade conflict between Ukraine and Poland regarding food imports has flared up with new force. Poland, together with Hungary and Slovakia, ignoring the decision of the European Commission, banned the import of certain agricultural crops, in response to which Ukraine filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal warned Poland and Hungary about the intention to introduce an embargo in response.

On the same day, a planned meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and Poland was called off in New York.