Poland’s prime minister today urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “not to offend” Poles again, maintaining his tough rhetoric towards Kiev, hours after the Polish president sought to ease tensions between the two countries over grain imports.

Poland decided last week to extend its ban on Ukrainian grain imports, a move that has caused a rift in relations with the neighboring country, although it has been one of its closest allies since the Russian invasion.

Zelenskiy angered Warsaw when he told the UN General Assembly in New York that Kiev was working to preserve land export routes for grain but the “political theater” being played by some on the issue was only helping Moscow .

“I want (…) to tell President Zelenskiy not to insult the Poles again, as he did recently, in his speech at the United Nations,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was quoted as saying, according to public news agency PAP.

Earlier, Polish President Andrzej Duda estimated that the dispute between Poland and Ukraine over Ukrainian grain imports will not significantly affect the good bilateral relations of these countries.

“I have no doubt that the dispute over the supply of grain from Ukraine to the Polish market is just a part of Polish-Ukrainian relations,” Duda noted during a business conference.

“I don’t think it can significantly affect them, so we need to resolve this issue between us,” he continued, in an attempt to de-escalate the tension.

Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced restrictions on grain imports from Ukraine on Friday after the European Commission decided not to extend a ban on sales to five of Ukraine’s European neighbors, which also include Romania and Bulgaria.

These countries complain that cheap Ukrainian grain, which would have to pass through their soil to be exported further west, is destroying their internal market.

Duda was expected to meet with Zelensky in New York, but this meeting did not take place. When asked about this by the private television network TNV24 on Thursday, the Polish president replied that “the atmosphere has soured” and added that the words of the Ukrainian president caused him bitterness.

But Duda stressed that “of course” they are still friends and added that he hopes to have a face-to-face meeting with Zelensky at the first opportunity.