Polish President Karol Nawrocki has said he had a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the leaders' dinner ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, and stressed the importance of dialogue between Ukraine and Poland despite bilateral disagreements.
Source: European Pravda correspondent, citing Nawrocki
Details: The Polish leader also spoke about conversations with various leaders, including Zelenskyy.
"Yesterday at dinner I spoke with many world leaders. Among them was, of course, President Zelenskyy. Perhaps there will be another opportunity to talk today," he said.
Nawrocki chose not to emphasise the disagreements, instead calling for dialogue between states that share a common enemy.
Quote: "It seems natural to me when neighbouring states that have a common enemy, which is Russia, maintain dialogue regardless of certain bilateral tensions.
My position on the bilateral tensions is unchanged. I believe that Poland and all of Europe cannot tolerate the glorification of Ukrainian Insurgent Army soldiers responsible for the deaths of 120,000 Poles. But this does not preclude our dialogue. We feel a common threat from Russia. Ukraine is currently at war with Russia, and Poland has been in conflict with it for centuries."
More details: This was the first conversation between the Ukrainian and Polish leaders since the row over Zelenskyy's being stripped of the Polish Order of the White Eagle.
Background:
On the evening of 19 June, Nawrocki took the decision to strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle in connection with the naming of a Ukrainian military unit after the Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. He said Poland would not allow EU accession for those who do not understand the need to renounce the "cult of totalitarianism and violence".
At a meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski in Warsaw on 3 July, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha proposed a package of anti-crisis measures to ease tensions in relations with Poland.
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