Poland and Ukraine target benefits for Ukrainian men abroad
A look back at the diplomatic exchanges around the war in the days before and on 16 September 2024.
What was the diplomatic picture on 16 September 2024? In the days leading up to it, Kyiv's relations with partners and adversaries were shaped by disputes over conscription, peace initiatives and Western weapons.
On 14 September 2024, after a meeting in Kyiv, the foreign ministers of Poland and Ukraine called for ending social benefits for Ukrainian men in Poland. They also urged European Union programmes to return such men to Ukraine, with the aim of stopping draft evasion.
On 12 September 2024, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strongly denounced a Brazilian–Chinese peace initiative. He said both countries were effectively siding with Russia, because the approach would let the Russian army take Ukrainian territory as a means of "de-escalating" the war rather than helping Ukraine resist the invasion.
On the same day, Russian president Vladimir Putin warned that Ukrainian use of NATO weapons to strike deep into Russian territory would mean NATO's formal entry into the war. He argued that NATO personnel programme these weapons, which he described as a "direct confrontation".
Separately, on 10 September 2024, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk condemned Germany's new land border restrictions. He pointed to Germany's earlier lack of support for other EU nations affected by irregular migration.
