Ukrainian officials arrive at Poland's border, but do not meet with Polish counterparts

A group of Ukrainian ministers and their deputies, led by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, arrived at the Krakowiec checkpoint on the Ukrainian-Polish border on the evening of February 23. However, the meeting with Polish counterparts did not take place

Shmyhal reported this in his Telegram. 

According to the prime minister, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction Oleksandr Kubrakov, Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko, Minister of Agriculture Mykola Solskyi, Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Perebyinis, Deputy Minister of Economy Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Serhiy Derkach, Head of the State Border Guard Service, General Serhiy Deineko, and Head of the State Customs Service Serhiy Zvyagintsev arrived at the Ukrainian-Polish border.

However, despite President Zelensky's proposal to hold a meeting at the border and find a compromise, the Polish leadership refused to meet. 

"Unfortunately, such a meeting with Polish officials did not take place today," Shmyhal wrote. 

"A month ago, we agreed that the blocking of the border harms our countries and that it is important to prevent such incidents. A month has passed, and we are back to this point again. Only now we see outright provocations.  We understand the difficulties faced by the Polish government. And we are ready to help resolve this situation. We are going to meet," the Prime Minister said.

Polish farmer protests at border crossings with Ukraine

Earlier this week, protesting Polish farmers dumped grain out of a freight train which had to bring it to Germany.

The farmers want to stop the import of Ukrainian grain and to extend the ban to other goods including fruit, eggs and meat.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the protests demonstrated the "breakdown of solidarity" with Ukraine. He said the protests were about politics, not grain, because "only 5% of our agricultural exports pass through the Polish border".

Read also Polish government cannot cope with Kremlin's blatant special operation

On Thursday, Polish PM Donald Tusk said he was seeking a compromise to both sides. He reiterated his support for Ukraine, but also expressed understanding for the farmers.