Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk hold up copies of a mutual defense agreement, July 8, 2024
EA-Ukraine VideoCast: Putin’s Threat to Assassinate Zelensky
I joined the Polish outlet TVP World on Sunday to analyze how Ukraine’s Zelensky Government has unsettled relations with Poland, one of its primary suppoorters against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
I explained how President Volodymyr Zelensky named a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which has been accused of collaboration with Nazi Germany in World War II and the mass killing of Polish civilians.
I assess Kyiv’s motive to encourage Ukrainian nationalism and how this clashes with a different historical interpretation in neighboring Poland.
While challenging the “insensitivity” of Zelensky’s decision, I echo the words of Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski that only the Kremlin benefits if this episode leads to lasting division between Ukraine and Poland or hinders Kyiv’s path to European Union membership.
