EU warns Ukraine-Poland row plays into Russia's hands

BRUSSELS

Picture taken on Dec. 19, 2025 at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, shows Poland's President Karol Nawrocki (R) and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky addressing a joint press conference following their talks. (AFP)

The EU warned on June 23 that a spiralling diplomatic row between Ukraine and Poland over World War II memory risked benefitting the Kremlin.

"There's only one happy observer in this type of situations, and that's the aggressor in Ukraine, and so we shouldn't be playing into their hands," EU spokeswoman Paula Pinho said.

"We have confidence in the ongoing discussions that are taking place between Poland and Ukraine and we are confident that indeed this will be solved."

Ukraine on June 23 announced that President Volodymyr Zelensky will skip the Ukraine Recovery Conference, to be hosted in Poland later this week, amid the spat.

Zelensky infuriated neighbouring Poland this month by naming a military unit after the nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) that took part in massacres against Poles in WWII.

Hard-right Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle - the highest honour in Poland - despite attempts by the country's Prime Minister Donald Tusk to defuse the row.

Poland has been a key ally for Ukraine in its war with Russia, acting as a crucial staging ground for Western weapon supplies.