Polish President Andrzej Duda says that he has not issued ultimatums to Ukraine regarding the exhumation of victims of the Volyn tragedy, reports PAP, citing his remarks to Kanal Zero.

The Volyn tragedy (1943-1944) remains a painful chapter in Ukrainian-Polish relations, marked by the mass killing of approximately 30,000 Poles by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and violence against 10,000 Ukrainians. Poland regards these events as genocide, while Ukraine emphasizes the complex motives behind the UPA’s actions. Poland has recently indicated it will block Ukraine’s EU accession until these historical issues, particularly the Volyn tragedy, are addressed. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has stressed that Ukraine must acknowledge and resolve these grievances to gain Poland’s support for its EU membership.

However, Duda says he is not the kind of person who would refuse to help a neighbor whose “house is on fire,” even if that neighbor had done him much harm in the past.

The Polish president noted, “Ukrainians believe they are defending Europe, they are deeply convinced of this, and they do not think they owe us anything for the help we have provided.”

Duda mentioned that before Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine, he discussed the Volyn tragedy with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He also emphasized that this meeting differed from previous negotiations on the exhumation of the victims with former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, which “yielded no results.”

“We will take steps to ensure that this issue no longer serves as a source of anger between our nations, of this deeply wounded memory, or, as some say, of hatred,” Duda said.

In November 2024, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, following talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha, announced that the Ukrainian minister assured him there are no obstacles to conducting exhumation works for the victims of the Volyn tragedy in Ukraine.

In turn, Sybiha stated that both Kyiv and Warsaw are interested in resolving misunderstandings over historical issues.

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