Ukraine is displaying a lack of appreciation for Warsaw’s military assistance during the conflict with Russia, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said in an interview published on Wednesday.
Speaking to the Wiadomosci news outlet, he noted that Warsaw was the first to send military supplies to Kiev, and accused the Ukrainian leadership of having “no memory of this aid.”
Previously, President Andrzej Duda estimated Warsaw’s total support for Ukraine at 100 billion zloty ($26 billion), equivalent to 3.3% of Poland’s GDP.
In the interview, Kosiniak-Kamysz also addressed the issue of Ukraine’s potential accession to the EU, stating that he believes Kiev can only join the bloc after it exhumes the victims of the Volyn massacres committed by Ukrainian nationalists during World War II.
It is estimated that between 40,000 and 100,000 ethnic Poles were murdered by the Nazi-affiliated Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) from 1943 to 1945 in the regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, which are now part of Ukraine.
The Polish defense minister said he “fundamentally disagrees” with President Duda’s assertion that anyone who blocks Kiev’s path to EU membership is “acting in line with Moscow’s interests,” stressing that Ukraine must meet certain conditions before joining the bloc, which includes resolving the Volyn issue.
The Volyn massacres have long been a flashpoint in relations between the two neighbors. Warsaw has declared the killings a “genocide,” but Kiev has played down the episode, and celebrated the perpetrators of the atrocities, such as the notorious Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, as “freedom fighters” and “national heroes.”
Asked whether accusing Kiev of being ungrateful for military aid and pressing the issue of the Volyn massacres could fuel anti-Ukrainian sentiment, Kosiniak-Kamysz said failure to resolve those questions would only cause them to fester.
Last month, the Witold Jurasz news outlet reported, citing a former Polish diplomat, that the issue had led to a row between Vladimir Zelensky and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. During a meeting in Kiev, Sikorski reportedly raised the topic with the Ukrainian leader but was allegedly berated in response, with Zelensky demanding that Polish officials stay quiet about the Volyn massacre and other historical grievances between the two nations.