Nawrocki after talk with Zelenskyy at NATO summit calls for dialogue despite tensions

Polish President Karol Nawrocki revealed that he had a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a dinner on the eve of the NATO summit in Ankara. He emphasized the importance of maintaining dialogue between neighboring countries despite existing bilateral disagreements.

"It seems natural to me that neighboring states that have a common enemy, which is Russia, maintain dialogue regardless of certain bilateral tensions," Nawrocki told reporters upon arrival at the summit. He reiterated that his position on glorifying soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), whom he holds responsible for the deaths of 120,000 Poles, remains unchanged, but he insisted this does not preclude dialogue.

The conversation was the first between the two leaders since a scandal erupted when Nawrocki decided on June 19 to strip Zelenskyy of Poland's Order of the White Eagle. The decision was linked to the naming of a Ukrainian unit after UPA heroes. On July 3, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with his Polish counterpart Radosław Sikorski in Warsaw and proposed a set of anti-crisis measures to ease tensions.

Nawrocki noted that despite bilateral strains, the shared threat from Russia necessitates cooperation. "Ukraine is currently at war with Russia, while Poland has been in conflict with it for centuries," he said.