Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and his visiting Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha met after a recent diplomatic dispute triggered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's decision to name a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a World War II-era nationalist force whose legacy remains deeply divisive in relations between Warsaw and Kyiv.
Poland's foreign ministry said Sikorski and Sybiha were expected to discuss bilateral relations and the situation on the battlefield as Ukraine continues to defend itself against Russia's full-scale invasion, launched on February 24, 2022.
The meeting came after Kyiv requested talks in an effort to ease tensions, Polish state news agency PAP reported, citing unofficial sources.
The talks followed what Polish media described as a marked shift in Zelensky's tone after days of escalating rhetoric between the two neighbours.
Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, Zelensky said Poland and Ukraine were united by shared security interests despite disagreements over history.
"We are neighbours, and like most countries in Europe, we have had problems in the past," he was quoted as saying. "But we live in the present and face one aggressor. We must think about security."
Zelensky also said Ukraine was ready to address Polish concerns, the PAP news agency reported.
"If there are questions, there will be answers. Ukraine is ready for this. We are strong neighbours and good friends," he said.
His remarks contrasted with comments earlier this week when he said that "no one will ever dictate to Ukraine how to live, how to speak, whom to love, whom to thank and which heroes to honour."
The dispute centres on the legacy of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which Poland holds responsible for the WWII mass killings of Polish civilians in the Volhynia and eastern Galicia regions, then part of German-occupied Poland.
Poland classifies the massacres as genocide, while many Ukrainians regard the UPA as a symbol of the country's struggle for independence and postwar resistance to Soviet rule.
The controversy intensified after Zelensky named a military unit in honour of the "Heroes of the UPA."
Polish leaders, including President Karol Nawrocki, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Sikorski, criticised the move.
Nawrocki responded by stripping Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest state honour, which had been awarded to him by former President Andrzej Duda in 2023.
Zelensky returned the decoration to Warsaw the following day, according to media reports.
The dispute deepened further after Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday approved legislation establishing a "National Pantheon" to commemorate figures regarded in the country as national heroes.
The law allows for the inclusion of members of groups such as the UPA and the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), both of which Poland holds responsible for wartime crimes, including the ethnic cleansing and mass killing of Polish civilians.
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Source: IAR, PAP