Peak of tension in Ukraine-Poland relations still ahead, Kyiv predicts
The peak of tension in relations with Poland is still ahead and could come as early as this week, since July 11 marks the anniversary of the Volyn tragedy, said the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov.
He predicts that Poland may take “a number of escalatory steps” exactly by that date.
“It (the peak of tension) will definitely be ahead. There is no big secret here... July 11 will mark the anniversary of the Volyn tragedy. Judging by the information I have, they are preparing a whole series of, in my view, immature steps leading to escalation. Therefore, obviously, all of this will continue now,” Budanov said.
At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine will not accept any ultimatums, including from partners.
“Ukraine will not accept ultimatums from anyone in this world. The last one who tried to issue us an ultimatum was the Russian Federation. No offense to Poland, but it is a bit stronger than Poland... So why does anyone think that we will accept something else from another side? One should not speak to us using ultimatums,” he emphasized.
At the same time, Budanov stressed that in the event of such unfriendly actions, Ukraine will definitely respond, and “no one will sit silently.”
The senior official added that the peak of escalation always has two paths of development — either an inevitable catastrophe or subsequent de-escalation. At the same time, he expressed hope that in the situation with Poland, de-escalation will ultimately occur.
The conflict began after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy assigned one of the units of the Ukrainian army the name “Heroes of the UPA.” This provoked a sharp reaction in Poland due to the memory of the Volyn tragedy.
On June 19, Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced on social network X that he had stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle.
In response, a number of senior Ukrainian officials, including Budanov himself and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, as well as four former presidents of the country, made a demarche by renouncing Polish awards they had received in previous years.
Later, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that he had received positive signals from the meeting between Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and his Polish counterpart Radosław Sikorski in Warsaw, and noted that he had signals that the Ukrainian side was seeking ways to ease tensions.
Source: RBC-Ukraine
