"We did not see the prevalent desire and interest that we hoped to see. Only about 300 people expressed interest, while we anticipated 5,000 to 6,000," Kosiniak-Kamysz told a news website.
The Polish defense minister said he even reached out to the Ukrainian government a few month prior with an offer to address Ukrainians in Poland and encourage them to join the volunteer unit, but to no avail.
"We made our military available for providing training to Ukrainian troops; we have already trained 25,000 soldiers [under NATO programs], but we also want to train the volunteers residing in Poland," Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
In July, Warsaw and Kiev signed an agreement on long-term military cooperation, under which, among other things, Poland committed to recruiting, equipping and training volunteers willing to fight for Ukraine.