Ukraine’s ally Poland looking into how to make more ammunition: foreign minister

DAVOS: Poland’s new government is looking into how it can make more ammunition and military equipment as it works on a new aid package for Ukraine, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in Davos on Wednesday.

Warsaw has been a close ally of Kyiv during Russia’s war in Ukraine, but relations were dealt a blow last year by a dispute over grain imports and a blockade of some border crossings by Polish truckers demanding that the European Union reinstate a permit system for Ukrainian hauliers.

Sikorski signalled his intention to put ties back on a stronger footing by visiting Ukraine last month, shortly after his appointment to the new Western-looking government, and the new government has announced a new aid package for Kyiv.

“We are looking at all issues to do with Ukraine with fresh eyes,” Sikorski told Reuters in an interview at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

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“We’re examining what options we have of making more ammunition and equipment and also what we still have in our stores.”

Though Warsaw has provided Kyiv with military and financial aid since Russia’s invasion, the previous government under the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party said last year it was carrying out only previously agreed arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Sikorski’s remarks indicated Warsaw is looking into ways to produce more ammunition and military hardware to be able to send more military aid to Kyiv.

“What we think and communicate to our allies is that the cost of deterring Mr Putin after he’d conquered Ukraine would be much bigger than the cost of supplying Ukraine to effectively defend itself against his act of aggression,” he said.

Deal with truckers

Sikorski welcomed a deal reached this week under which Polish truckers agreed to suspend their protests calling for the EU to reinstate a system which it waived after Russia’s invasion but which Polish hauliers said created unfair competition.

Sikorski acknowledged that Ukraine and Poland, which is a member of both the EU and NATO, must keep working on resolving challenges.

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“Poland shouldn’t be the country that bears the brunt of most of the cost of solidarity with Ukraine on behalf of all of the European Union…the cost is inevitable, we accept it, but it should be born more fairly,” he said.

He endorsed a U.S. plan to confiscate up to $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine, saying: “It’s the aggressor who should pay for the damage to Ukraine.”

Sikorski said Poland was “back from a faraway trip into populism” after eight years of PiS in power.

“I hope we inspire democrats around the world that you can win against populist politics. We now need to bring back rule of law, respect for the constitution, respect for the rights of citizens,” he said.

PiS were accused of democratic backsliding during their time in office, but the party says its policies sought to remove the residue of communist rule, protect Poland’s sovereignty and raise living standards.