Budanov on conflict with Poland: peak of escalation yet to come

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Office of the President, believes that the peak of the escalation of the conflict between Ukraine and Poland is yet to come. Budanov made this statement in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, the Ukrainian News agency reports.

“It (the peak of the conflict’s escalation) is definitely yet to come. There’s no big secret here. We have a little less than a week left until July 11, which marks the anniversary of the Volyn tragedy. Based on the information I have, they are preparing a whole series of what I consider to be ill-advised escalatory steps. Therefore, obviously, all of this will continue now,” he said.

Budanov emphasized that Ukraine will not accept ultimatums from anyone and will respond to unfriendly actions.

"If we acknowledge that someone is taking immature steps, why should we respond by making missteps ourselves? Let them do their part—we’ll see, and we’ll respond. No one is going to sit idly by," the head of the President's Office noted.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in early July, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, during a meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski in Warsaw, proposed a package of anti-crisis measures to Poland.

Relations between Ukraine and Poland have deteriorated after Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced in June that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be stripped of the Order of the White Eagle due to the decision to name a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after the “Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).”