Morawiecki: Putin wants to exploit food crisis to pressure free world

PM Morawiecki took part in a two-day summit of the European Council. At a press conference on Tuesday, he informed about the topics that had been discussed. "Today in Brussels a very serious debate took place regarding food safety in Africa, Northern Africa, and the Middle East. Why? Because grain from Ukraine is a significant part of imports to those countries, and which is necessary to provide food supplies for those very populous countries like Egypt," he said.

Poland's prime minister also said it was crucial "not to place another instrument in Putin's hands". "Because Putin and the Kremlin want to exploit also this issue with premeditation, in order to pressure the free world - including Poland, France, Germany, and the Visegrad Group. And they're doing it with malice and premeditation, with complete disregard that it may mean hunger for millions of people," he said.

"That's why I told our friends in the European Union that we, as Poland, are ready to do whatever it takes to increase the potential of our border, transfer, transport, and port infrastructure over a short period of time," he informed, stipulating that it would rather take months, rather than weeks.

"We will soon discuss this issue with out partners in Ukraine, so as to be able to move as much grain as possible," he added.

European Union leaders have agreed an embargo on Russian oil imports that will kick in around the turn of the year - and for now exempts the pipeline imports that Hungary and two other landlocked Central European states rely on.

The ban, agreed overnight after weeks of wrangling, aims to remove 90% of Russia's crude imports into the 27-nation bloc within eight months or so, officials said.

It is the toughest sanction yet on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and one that will affect the EU itself.

Mateusz Morawiecki also said at the conference that "if Russia wants to subordinate Ukraine and destroy peace, then we must use our most serious weapon - and that weapon is economy, preventing further powering-up of Putin's war machine".

"Russia wants to wage a lenghty war and at the same time cause hunger across the world," the prime minister said. "We must lose the illusion that the Europeans will ever live in peace in the shadow of Russian imperialism. These are only some general reflections, but very important though, because they were underscored very clearly during yesterday's and today's debates," he added.