Ukrainian foreign minister to Poland: Moscow's attempts to undermine mutual trust
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has called on Ukraine and Poland to resist Moscow's attempts to undermine mutual trust. He also reported progress in resolving difficult historical issues between the two countries.
Sybiha said Russia is trying to downplay the significance of the experience of the first months after the full-scale invasion, sow doubt and persuade people that trust had been a mistake and solidarity had been futile.
"We are wise enough to see through this plan and have enough respect for each other to resist it. Our nations will decide for themselves on the substance, level and tone of their mutual relations. We will not surrender this right to the enemy," the minister stressed in his article for Rzeczpospolita.
He said heated disputes are a natural part of life in any democracy.
"However, anti-Ukrainian rhetoric should not become a tool of political struggle. Moscow is counting on precisely these divisions. We want Ukraine to unite people in every European country, rather than become an issue that divides them," the minister noted.
Sybiha acknowledged that the Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy remains a deep wound.
"We hear the voices of Poles who expect an objective view of the events of those years, proper commemoration of the victims and the burial of their loved ones. In Ukraine, people also remember the Ukrainians who died or became victims of forced deportations during the same period.
The memory of one nation should not undermine the memory of another. These principles have already made it possible to move from declarations to concrete action. We have made historic progress. For the first time, efforts in this area have reached such a scale," he wrote.
Sybiha also said the Kremlin must not be allowed to cynically exploit the pain of families affected by past violence and deportations.
"Resolving difficult issues does not mean forgetting. It means having the courage to seek the truth. Pope John Paul II called on both nations to adopt this position, reminding them that what unites us should take precedence over what divides us," the minister concluded.
In July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that archives of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine relating to the events in Volyn would be opened.
In August, Ukrainian and Polish experts completed exhumations at the sites of the former villages of Ostrivky and Volia Ostrovetska.