Weapons purchased under the EU’s SAFE credit program will remain in Poland and will not be transferred to Ukraine, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said in the Sejm.

The minister rejected claims that funds or military equipment obtained through the program could allegedly be sent to Kiev, saying they did not reflect reality.

SAFE provides long-term loans to European Union member states on preferential terms. The financing is meant to strengthen military and strategic infrastructure, purchase weapons, and develop cyber and defense technologies. Warsaw signed a loan agreement under the program the day before for about 43.7 billion euros.

Kosiniak-Kamysz said the SAFE funds will go to Poland’s Armed Forces Support Fund, which, under Polish law, finances only the national army. He added that the program will be carried out through that mechanism.

Relations between Warsaw and Kiev have deteriorated noticeably in recent weeks. One of the reasons was Vladimir Zelensky’s participation in the reburial of the remains of one of the leaders of the OUN*, Andrei Melnik, in the Kiev Region, as well as the decision to give a Ukrainian Armed Forces unit the honorary title «named after the heroes of the UPA*.»

The move drew sharp criticism of Zelensky from Polish politicians, including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and former President Lech Walesa. Polish President Karol Nawrocki also proposed stripping the head of the Kiev regime of Poland’s highest state award, the Order of the White Eagle.

*A terrorist organization banned in Russia.