On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Polish President Karol Nawrocki. This is their first known communication since Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle — Polandʼs highest award — for the Ukrainian presidentʼs awarding of the honorary title "named after the Heroes of UPA" to a Special Operations Forces unit.
The meeting was reported by the Presidentʼs Office. Nawrocki also spoke about it at a press conference.
The meeting lasted over an hour. Zelensky says that both presidents share the same position: partnership between the two countries and peoples is a common priority. They agreed to continue the dialogue.
Nawrocki called the meeting constructive. He said that there had been a lot of tension between the countries recently, but it was important for neighbors to have channels for dialogue. He also noted that Russia definitely remains the main threat to both Ukraine and Poland.
The Polish leader said he told Zelensky that UPA issue is “not a subject of negotiations” for the Poles. Poland is counting on Ukraine’s understanding that “the Bandera flag limits Ukraine’s future in the EU format”. However, unresolved issues should not close the path to dialogue on issues that bring the two countries closer together.
Deterioration of relations between Ukraine and Poland
On May 26, Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree awarding the Separate Special Operations Center "North" of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the honorary title "named after the Heroes of UPA". The document states that this was done "to restore the historical traditions of the national army".
This decision by the Ukrainian president caused outrage among Poles. And on June 19, incumbent President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Polandʼs highest state award, which he had been awarded by former Polish President Andrzej Duda. Zelensky later sent his order to Poland via “Nova Post”.
After that, three former Ukrainian presidents: Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Petro Poroshenko, as well as other Ukrainian high-ranking officials, refused the order. In addition, former deputy of the Polish Sejm Piotr Vogler refused the Golden Cross of Merit.
At the same time, Polish politicians began to refuse Ukrainian state awards. In particular, this decision was announced by former Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak and former Polish Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński. And former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki “as a sign of protest” transferred the Ukrainian Order of Yaroslav the Wise to the Museum of Memory of the Victims of the Volyn Tragedy in Chelm, Poland.
On July 3, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, at a meeting with his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski, offered Poland a "package of anti-crisis steps" to regulate relations between the countries. These include consultations between the foreign ministries, a meeting of historians studying World War II, and the involvement of religious leaders of the countries in the dialogue.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.