"We have an appointment in New York in a few days with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky,” Duda told pap.pl on Thursday.
Darek Delmanowicz/PAP

Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, has said he will likely meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in New York in a few days over Poland’s Ukrainian grain ban.

On Sunday, Duda is due to start a four-day visit to the US where he will attend the 78th session of UN General Assembly in New York.

“We have an appointment in New York in a few days with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky,” Duda told pap.pl on Thursday.

“We must defend our interests,” he added.

Duda said that it was “absolutely” not in Poland’s interest for Ukrainian grain to be sold on the Polish market.

“It is not in the interest of our farmers. We have to defend our market and we are doing this, while trying to help Ukraine,” he added.

On Tuesday, the Polish government called on the European Commission to extend the EU ban on imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine and warned that if no EU regulation on the matter was issued by the time the ban expires on September 15, Poland would introduce its own, unilateral restrictions.

In the spring of this year, the EC introduced the ban on Ukrainian produce following protests by frontline EU countries, where farmers complained cheap Ukrainian goods damaged local markets. By that time Poland and four other countries bordering Ukraine had already introduced their own, unilateral restrictions, which the EC said were against EU treaties.