Ukraine's Foreign Minister comments on meetings in Poland and promises to resolve the "poisonous" issue of exhumations

Andrii Sybiha, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, has provided details of his one-day visit to Poland, during which, among other things, he discussed the issue of exhumation of the remains of those killed in the Volyn tragedy, which is a problem for relations between the two countries. [The Volyn tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles – ed.]

The Ukrainian minister said on Facebook that he had a long and detailed conversation with Polish President Andrzej Duda, following up on his dialogue with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talks with Marshals of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia and the Senate Małgorzata Kidawa-Blonska, and a meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski (the Sejm and the Senate are the two chambers of the Polish Parliament).

At all the talks, Sybiha said, he expressed his sincere gratitude to Poland and the Poles who immediately came to help Ukraine from the first minutes of the full-scale Russian invasion. 

The focus of all the conversations was on countering Russian aggression, protecting common freedom and security, the Peace Formula and the Victory Plan, military assistance, support for energy and economy, and Ukraine's resilience in the view of the approaching winter.

Sybiha stressed that Ukraine was ready to talk to Poland on all topics "and not only talk, but also solve problems". 

In particular, the Polish side "discussed specific technical, not political, steps to finally resolve the issue of exhumations, which has made our political dialogue toxic for a while."

Sybiha stated that there should be no political obstacles and expressed satisfaction, noting that there is mutual understanding and a desire to move forward. He emphasised that, despite the difficulties in the past, the two nations should not hinder the current response to shared challenges or the future within the Euro-Atlantic family.

On 2 October, amid Sybiha's talks in Poland, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance announced that it planned to start searching for and exhuming the remains of Poles in Rivne Oblast in 2025.

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the readiness of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance to resume work on the search and exhumation of those killed in the Volyn tragedy.