Ambassador Zvarych: Russia systematically trying to pit Ukrainians against Poles over past two years

After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been systematically working to spark conflict between Ukrainians and Poles, but it failed to do so.

This was emphasized in an interview with Ukrinform by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland, Vasyl Zvarych.

"We have all witnessed how Ukrainians and Poles were repeatedly being pitted against each other during these two years, though playing on emotions, tragic pages of history, and the blocking of borders. Russian assets operated in their traditional style, according to the principle of ‘divide and rule’, resorting to various provocations," the Ukrainian diplomat emphasized.

According to Zvarych, "the wisdom of the peoples and leadership of both countries prevailed.” Therefore, Poland maintains a high level of support for Ukraine, and the strategic partnership between the two states is "at its peak."

At the same time, he noted that there are forces that are not interested in good relations between Kyiv and Warsaw so they will continue to "try to hurl stones under the wheels of cooperation between our countries."

"And here it is important to continue to maintain order, not to succumb to provocations. We must treat each other with respect and understand a single truth, tested throughout our common history: when Ukrainians and Poles join their efforts and effectively use the potential of both countries, complementing each other, then both our peoples win, become stronger and successful. And when we plunge into a vortex of mutual negative emotions, unnecessary disputes, and unfair competition, we lose each on our own while the Kremlin rejoices. This has already happened in our history, and I am sure that we have made the right conclusions so as not to repeat the mistakes," stated Zvarych.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Polish Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz told Polsat News Ukraine would not join the European Union without first solving the problem of the Volyn tragedy.

The head of Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, Anton Drobovych, in a comment to Ukrinform, noted that the vision of problematic historical issues in Polish-Ukrainian relations should be expressed by professionals in the field in the form of specific proposals.