Tusk: Political Row with Kyiv Is a Mistake

The conflict between politicians in Poland and Ukraine is a strategic mistake that will harm both sides, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Sunday on X, as he sought to defuse a dispute sparked by a historical disagreement.

On Friday, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the country's highest state honor, prompting three former Ukrainian presidents and other senior officials to return their state honors to Poland.

Nawrocki decided to revoke the Order of the White Eagle after Zelensky angered many in Poland by renaming a Ukrainian military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a nationalist group that massacred Poles during the Second World War.

"Wading into a conflict between politicians in Poland and Ukraine is a strategic mistake that will harm both sides: business-wise, geopolitically, and reputationally. And in politics, as we know, a mistake is worse than a crime", Tusk wrote.

"In discussions with my European partners, I strive to minimize losses and reduce tensions. This is no easy task", he added in a post on X.

(Reuters)