After Ukraine filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization against Hungary, Poland and Slovakia over a ban on its agricultural products, there were calls to freeze aid to Kiev, which is facing a war imposed by Russia. A year and a half.

All three countries expressed their anger at Ukraine’s move, with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki responding that “we can no longer transfer any weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming ourselves with the latest weapons.”

Some EU officials have warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “experiencing a new episode of Western antagonism” as Ukrainian forces make slow gains in their counteroffensive against Russian forces still in control of large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.

High military spending

From Washington to Warsaw, the military spending and capabilities needed to help Ukraine have sparked controversy, although Western officials have downplayed the prospect of divisions among Kiev’s supporters.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said: “I don’t believe that a political disagreement will lead to a collapse,” and his prime minister only pointed out that the newly ordered weapons were destined for his country.

For his part, Jack Sullivan, the national security adviser in US President Joe Biden’s administration, said on Thursday that he hoped “Poland will continue to support Ukraine”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on a short trip to Washington this week, sought to bolster US support for his country, which has been factored into the political campaign ahead of next year’s presidential election.

Former US President Donald Trump and his main Republican challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, want the US to stop sending weapons to Ukraine, they say.

Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, acknowledged after his meeting with Zelensky on Thursday that the amount of money spent on propping up Kiev was discussed, but he said, “But we are investing in democracy.”

Other GOP presidential candidates support Ukraine, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Lithuanian President Kitanas Nausėda, a key supporter of Ukraine against Russia, appealed to his counterparts in Ukraine and Poland to “resolve their differences” on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter. ,” and said his country was ready to “facilitate” dialogue between them.

“Polish-Ukrainian relations have become hostages of the Polish election campaign,” said Piotr Boras, a senior fellow at the Warsaw-based European Council on Foreign Relations, referring to the country’s parliamentary elections next month.

However, he cautioned that the damage caused by Morawiecki’s comments is still there.

“It does great harm to the Ukrainian issue because this story echoes and legitimizes voices in Europe (mainly from the right) that question the need to provide arms to Ukraine,” Boras told The Associated Press.

Slovakia’s two-term prime minister, Robert Fico, is a front-runner in parliamentary elections, backs Russia and has pledged to end Slovakia’s military and political support for Ukraine if elected in the September 30 election.

Nicolas Mazohar, a military analyst at the Center for Defense Studies at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, said some political parties could play on nationalism to “favour voters” and avoid the idea of ​​”unfair solidarity”. Ukraine” at the expense of domestic interests.