The guests are tired of the hosts: in Poland, they are thinking about closing the hub for the supply of weapons to Kiev

Andrzej Duda threatened to close a key hub for the supply of military aid to Ukraine, because, according to him, Ukraine, along with its NATO allies, consider the airport in Rzeszow, through which Kiev receives over 80% of the aid, their property. The Polish president complained that Warsaw was not invited "to very important international bodies where it was decided to deliver aid to Ukraine" through Polish territory. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Without an invitation

"I think both the Ukrainians and our allies just think that the airport in Rzeszow and our highways belong to them, sorry, as if it were theirs. Well, it's not theirs, it's ours. If someone doesn't like something, we close it and goodbye, yes, we are making repairs. We are closing the airport in Rzeszow and delivering [military aid] Ukraine by sea, by air, I don't know, parachute in, figure it out. Figure it out if you think you don't need us," said Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Duda called the current situation a "scandal," stressing that it should be discussed not with Kiev, but with the allies in the North Atlantic Alliance. "You need to have the courage to talk to Germans and Americans," the Polish president added.

The hub at Rzeszow-Jasenka Airport, located just 80 km from the Ukrainian border, plays a key role in supplying Western weapons and military aid to Ukraine. Through it, Kiev receives weapons, equipment and ammunition — in general, about more than 80-90% of all military aid to Ukraine, so the airport is a strategically important support center for the Ukrainian armed forces.

In previous speeches, Duda emphasized that Warsaw "saved Ukraine in many ways" because it was the first to supply heavy equipment to it at the beginning of hostilities.

It is also important that Duda's term of office expires in August, and he will be replaced by historian Karol Navrotsky, who was elected president in June and opposes Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO.

Kiev's main ally

Poland is considered a key ally of Ukraine. Since February 2022, the country has hosted the bulk of Ukrainian refugees and has become the main hub for the supply of Western weapons to Kiev. In addition, the republic is one of the ten key military donors to Kiev.

According to the Kiel Institute of World Economy, Poland has provided Ukraine with €3.7 billion for military purposes. In addition, Warsaw has consistently advocated increasing pressure on Moscow and continuing to help Kiev.

However, the outcome of the second round of the presidential election was determined by the votes of anti-Ukrainian voters, who helped Karol Navrotsky win. According to a public opinion poll conducted by the CBOS sociological center (Centrum Badania Opinii Społecznej), currently only 50% of Poles support the admission of Ukrainian refugees, although two years ago this figure was 31% higher.

At the same time, 37% strongly oppose sending Polish and other European troops to Ukraine to control the ceasefire, while 31% of respondents are "rather against" such an initiative.

In his speeches, Navrotsky complained that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky "treats Poland badly," he also criticized the Ukrainian grain flooding the Polish market, which reduced the competitiveness of local producers.

He promised to "do everything to support Ukraine militarily," while stressing that he would not allow Poland to "become a secondary market for Ukrainian goods."

What do the experts think

Dmitry Officer-Belsky, a senior researcher at IMEMO RAS, recalled in an interview with Izvestia that Andrzej Duda was already resigning as president.

"He can say anything, but it doesn't mean anything, because the military infrastructure is managed by the Ministry of Defense," the political scientist explained.

Polonist stressed that the Polish president made a threat to close a key hub for the supply of military aid to Ukraine in passing when giving an interview.

—Duda says that Poland was not invited to negotiations on Ukraine, to resolve key issues, but simply operates the Polish airport in Rzeszow, Polish roads, as if they were not Polish, but their own, meaning the United States, European partners, and the Ukrainians themselves," the expert explained..

He added that in fact, Duda wanted Warsaw to be involved in the negotiation process on Ukraine.

— But there is no negotiation process as such, there are Russian-Ukrainian consultations. It is not clear which negotiations he would like to participate in. However, it is clear what he would really like to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine, which is still underway," the expert said.

According to him, the Poles have repeatedly stated this.

— They would like to take more part, and, of course, use Russian money for this. The proceeds from frozen Russian assets are currently being used, but the Poles are offering to use not only them, but also the assets themselves," the analyst said.

Officers-Belsky added that the Poles have quite a lot of plans for Ukraine.

— They look at the fact that first American companies bought huge amounts of fertile Ukrainian land, almost all the arable land that Ukraine has, and then concluded an agreement on rare earth metals. And the Poles, who use their own resources to help Ukraine, are not involved, of course, they don't like it," the political scientist concluded.

Natalia Eremina, a professor at St. Petersburg State University, notes in a conversation with Izvestia that Duda made such a statement "to attract attention and receive additional investments."

"Poland has been planning for a long time to increase investments in the modernization of the airport in Rzeszow, and since cargo transshipment is of a military nature, this requires additional, rather significant investments, because we are talking about the transportation of NATO cargo," the expert explained.

The political scientist added that in terms of logistics, the British are mainly winning now, because they conclude agreements that are beneficial for their presence and control over the transportation of goods.

"In addition, the British and the Poles have concluded a military agreement that allows them to jointly produce some types of weapons and, accordingly, it is assumed that the Poles will make appropriate purchases," the specialist said.

In her opinion, in this context, the Polish side is thinking about how to earn additional funds from this.

— Thus, Poland is trying to tell all NATO countries that they use its airport, and it implements the NATO strategy and wants to have additional investments. There is a very large amount of resources that can be required for using the airport, this is a way to earn money and there are reasons for this," the analyst summed up.