On Wednesday, the day of Zelensky's visit to Warsaw, Nawrocki said that he does not see Ukraine in NATO and the EU until all historical concerns of Poland, including the exhumation of victims of the Volhynia Massacre, have been addressed.
Zelensky commented on the statement in the Polish media: "If our allies... if they do not see us in such a security alliance... then Mr Nawrocki should start training because he and his compatriots might have to take up arms to defend their country."
"If Ukraine does not belong anywhere, then there is a high risk that, right after Ukraine, Russia will be at the Polish border," he added.
Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, Nawrocki's main presidential rival, also referred to his comment, declaring that all Polish political camps should seek to weaken Moscow.
"Everyone who claims that Ukraine shouldn't join NATO supports (Russian President Vladimir - PAP) Putin because he is trying to convince Europe that Ukraine shouldn't be in NATO or the EU," he said.
Kyiv has recently officially approved the exhumation of Volhynia massacre victims, the World War Two-era killings of approximately 100,000 Poles by Ukrainian nationalists conducted in the then-Polish Volhynia and Eastern Galicia regions.
The crime remains a contentious issue in Ukrainian-Polish relations. While Poland regards it as an act of genocide, Ukraine argues it was a part of a broader conflict for which both sides are responsible. Warsaw has repeatedly submitted requests to Kyiv for the search and exhumation of the remains of Poles killed during the tragic events.
Donald Tusk, the prime minister, denounced any attempts to use this matter "as a political condition of assisting Ukraine in its fight against Russia."(PAP)
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