MFA warns against politicization of dialogue between Ukraine and Poland on historical issues

Ukraine stands for an honest, responsible, and balanced historical dialogue, free from politicization and unilateral interpretations, and counts on the prudence of its Polish partners in assessing the events of the common historical past. This is stated in the statement of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs on the eve of the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Volyn Tragedy in Poland.

The ministry noted that Ukraine respects the history of the Ukrainian and Polish peoples. The countries have gone through different stages in their relations – from difficult periods of historical contradictions to the current stage of close strategic partnership.

Ukraine understands the sensitivity of the Volyn tragedy in Polish society and the sensitive attitude to the tragic pages of the past among Ukrainians.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is convinced that both nations have a moral obligation – not only to the memory of the dead, but also to present and future generations – to preserve the legacy of cooperation, mutual trust and strategic partnership.

"We stand for an honest, responsible and balanced historical dialogue, free from politicization and unilateral interpretations, and we count on the prudence of our Polish partners in assessing the events of our common historical past," the statement reads.

In order to maintain unity in defense against Russia, Ukraine seeks to resolve all problems in bilateral relations in a constructive spirit and has proven this with concrete steps in the previous months. The process of exhumations and constructive dialog on historical issues was resumed.

"We hope that this work will continue without politicization," the agency emphasized.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that two national roundtables have recently been held in Ukraine with the participation of historians and experts on Ukrainian-Polish relations. They testified that the events of the Volyn tragedy were a tragedy of two nations and require joint objective assessments based on professional research of all the facts of that period.

The department spoke about constructive cooperation with Poland in carrying out exhumations, properly organizing gravesites and identifying the names of the dead. Continuation of this work will help strengthen mutual understanding between peoples and the establishment of historical justice and memory of past events.

Ukraine has proposed to resume the activities of the Ukrainian-Polish Forum of Historians, as well as the Partnership Forum, an open dialogue format, as important platforms for exchanging views and seeking mutual understanding.

"On the eve of the day when the Republic of Poland honors the memory of the victims of the Volyn tragedy, Ukraine shares the pain and grief of the Polish people. At the same time, we do not forget about the numerous Ukrainians who became innocent victims of interethnic violence, political repression and deportations in Poland. Ukraine honors the memory of all those who died, regardless of their nationality, religion or place of burial," the statement reads .

The ministry reminded that Russia is doing everything it can to divide Ukrainians and Poles, using the pages of the past. They stated that some Polish politicians are consciously or unconsciously playing along with the aggressor in these efforts. Russia is actually demonstrating on the example of Ukrainian cities what exactly it will do in Poland if it is not stopped in Ukraine.

In response, Kyiv and Warsaw should show unity and wisdom and jointly honor historical memory, realizing that for the sake of a common future, they must find common ground even on the most difficult pages of the past. It is on the basis of this unity that states will be able to successfully build a common European path.

The Foreign Ministry thanked Poland for its assistance since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Only together can Warsaw and Kyiv overcome the aggressor state and protect the freedom of Ukraine and Poland.

• On May 6, Polish MP Pawel Kowal called the first exhumation work in many years to identify victims of the Volyn tragedy in Puzhnyky, Ternopil region, a "breakthrough" in Ukrainian-Polish relations.
• On June 11, reported that Ukraine had granted permission to Poland to exhume Polish soldiers killed in 1939 in Lviv.