Ukraine excluded Poland from the invitees to its International Defence Industry Forum last week, according to Polish Minister of State Property Jacek Sasin, but Kyiv says this is not the case.
Speaking at the forum, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the creation of an alliance for arms and military equipment producers “to build the arsenal of the free world together with Ukraine”.
“The Polish Armament Group (PGZ) was not invited,” Sasin told private Radio ZET, adding that no Polish companies attended the event and that “we have seen a series of unfriendly gestures from Ukraine recently.”
Asked why Poland was not invited to the Defence Forum, Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Zvarych refuted Sasin’s statement and said the Polish side should answer the question, as it was one of the first countries invited to the event.
“We invited everyone from our friendly countries, including defence industry companies. Poland was among the first to receive this invitation, so we were waiting for the Polish side to participate,” he said.
Sasin expressed concern that Ukraine’s current behaviour results from Kyiv’s perception of its political interests and the belief that it is better to side with Germany during the election campaign in Poland and avoid being too close to the Polish ruling party.
Even though the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government has always advocated for Ukraine and has already done so much for Ukrainians, it is just better for Kyiv to wait for a change in power, according to Sasin, who believes though that such a strategy would not benefit Ukraine in the future.
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(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)
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Source: euractiv.com
