Tusk: Zelensky Signaled He Won't Back Lviv's "Year of the UPA" Bid

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at a press conference during his visit to India that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had made it clear he would not support any further steps by the Lviv regional council to declare 2027 the year of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and Roman Shukhevych. European Pravda reported this, citing Ukrinform.

"He was very dissatisfied"

Tusk described a "signal" from Zelensky: "if the further procedure depends on him, he will not support this in any way." "He was very dissatisfied with what happened," Tusk said.

Tusk added that he had put considerable effort into settling the "orders crisis" and into explaining why such decisions harm Ukraine's interests and require careful thought given the two nations' dramatic shared history. He acknowledged that the history of both countries is complex and ambiguous, but stressed that Ukrainians "cannot seek any justification" regarding the Volyn tragedy and Shukhevych.

"I understand all the complexities and would like Poles to understand as well that, of course, all this is very ambiguous, both in our history and theirs, but genocide can in no way be justified. Ukraine will simply have very serious difficulties with integration [into the EU] if it does not also respect our sensitivities [on this issue]. We do not expect anything extraordinary in advance," Tusk said.

Tusk said he had spent long hours explaining the Polish point of view to Zelensky and had the impression that Zelensky understood it. "I find it hard to answer for the decisions of some deputies of district or regional councils in Lviv. It looks like a planned provocation by one of the local nationalists. It is very unwise and unnecessary," he concluded.

What happened before

On October 20 the Lviv regional council voted to declare 2027 the "year of Roman Shukhevych, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and Oleh Olzhych," which immediately drew criticism from the Polish authorities. Tusk had said the move helps Ukraine's enemies.

European Pravda earlier wrote that, because of the council's decision, Poland had suspended the delivery of a military aid package to Ukraine, citing a source in the Ukrainian government. Poland's Ministry of Defense denied that deliveries of a large aid package had been halted over the council's decision.

See our Politics section for more on Polish-Ukrainian relations.