Polish PM: Warsaw to stop sending arms to Ukraine, arm itself with 'more modern weapons'

Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Poland said it has stopped sending military weapons to Ukraine amid a growing dispute between the two countries.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told local media that his nation was scaling back on its support for Ukraine to focus on its own defense.

"We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons," he said. "If you don't want to be on the defensive, you have to have something to defend yourself with."

Morawiecki also insisted that Poland was still supporting Ukraine by maintaining a military hub.

"Our hub in Rzeszow, in agreement with the Americans and NATO, is fulfilling the same role the whole time as it has fulfilled and will fulfill," he said.

Warsaw's decision, though, will not affect Polish manufacturer PGZ is still due to send about 60 Krab artillery weapons to Ukraine in the coming months.

Poland, which has been one of Ukraine's staunchest allies since Russia invaded its neighbor more than a year ago, was already in a dispute where Warsaw stopped accepting Ukrainian grain to protect its own farmers from competing against cheaper products from Kyiv.

The European Commission had recently moved to allow Ukrainian grain sales across member states, despite the desire of Eastern members to protect their farmers. Poland, Hungary and Slovakia said they would continue to ban grain imports, prompting a lawsuit from Ukraine.

Since Russia walked away from a Black Sea grain agreement in June, Ukraine must rely upon land routes to get its grain to other ports and customers.