Zelenskyy on Thursday criticized Poland for not doing enough to protect Ukraine, particularly citing a request to safeguard gas storage facilities in the western city of Stryi, near Lviv, the RBC Ukraine news outlet reported.

Zelenskyy added that Poland had been reluctant to engage in actions like shooting down, without permission from NATO, Russian missiles heading toward Poland through Ukrainian airspace.

According to the Ukrainian president, Warsaw also refused to hand over its old Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter planes to Kyiv to defend Stryi. He added that NATO had agreed to protect Polish airspace during their absence.

Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, responding to the accusations on Thursday evening, said on social media: “Poland has provided as much military equipment to Ukraine as possible, but our own defense capabilities and the security of our country must remain a key priority.”

The defense minister reiterated that decisions to shoot down Russian missiles are collective NATO decisions, and no such authorization has been given.

Big contribution

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said Warsaw had provided Ukraine with significant financial and military aid, adding that his country had contributed more in proportion to its GDP than any other Western nation.

“We are trying to help but we are also a frontline state…Russia has also threatened us, so there are limits to what we can do,” Sikorski added.

Poland has been one of Kyiv’s staunchest allies since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but tensions with Warsaw have appeared at times, including over disputes regarding aid and historical grievances.