Zelensky: without Ukraine, “no one will be able to protect Poland”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that without Ukraine, protecting Poland is “simply impossible.” His words were reported by the TSN television channel.

According to Zelensky, if there is no Ukraine, there will be no protected Poland. On this basis, he indicated that Kyiv “simply cannot not be a partner or friend of Warsaw.”

The Ukrainian president also warned of the danger of stoking hatred between the societies of the two neighboring countries. According to him, such hatred can boost political ratings, but political competition on these grounds risks ending in an “unpleasant escalation.”

“You cannot earn political dividends on hatred,” Zelensky said.

The statements came in response to a deterioration in relations between Warsaw and Kyiv. Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the republic’s highest honor — the Order of the White Eagle. Nawrocki explained the decision by the naming of a Ukrainian Armed Forces brigade after Nazi collaborators involved in the Volhynia massacre.

The Polish government stated that only Moscow would “benefit” from the president’s decision. In Ukraine, Nawrocki’s move drew criticism: in a show of solidarity with Zelensky, diplomats, the head of the presidential office, and former presidents of the country Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Petro Poroshenko renounced their Polish awards. Zelensky himself returned the order to Nawrocki by mail.

Earlier, Ukraine’s former foreign minister stated that Poland was behaving like Russia.