Morawiecki: I'm concerned with Germany's reaction to Russia's threat

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Berlin was refusing to issue permits for German-origin weapons to be exported to Ukraine as it braces for a potential Russian invasion. "I observe with concern the situation in Ukraine and the reactions of our neighbours from Germany in the face of the threat from Russia," Mateusz Morawiecki wrote in a Facebook post. "A great disappointment is, among other things, Germany withholding its consent for the supply of weapons from Estonia to a state that is preparing to defend itself against an aggressor."

NATO is united on the question of Ukraine, Poland's president said on Monday after an online meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Britain and the European Union.

"I want to emphasise the unity of the North Atlantic Alliance," Polish President Andrzej Duda told reporters. "There is no ally at the moment that would break the solidarity with Ukraine, with the rest of NATO."

Latvian Defence Minister Artis Pabriks was quoted by the German daily Bild as saying Berlin's policy on weapons for Ukraine was "a big mistake". German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said his country has not supported the export of weapons in recent years. A German government spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Poland has long urged Germany to take a tougher stance towards Russia, particularly as regards the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. Some central and eastern European countries think the pipeline will give Russian President Vladimir Putin a lever to exert undue influence on western and central Europe. Morawiecki said the "black scenario" that Poland had been warning about was now arriving, and that the construction of Nord Stream 2 and Russia's "gas blackmail" were giving Putin "the tools to terrorise other European countries". Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this week that the pipeline, which is finished but has not yet secured approval to open, would boost European energy security, and that "attempts to politicise this project" would be counter-productive. The U.S. State Department has cleared Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to send U.S.-made missiles and other weapons to Ukraine.