Andrij Melnyk made his controversial statement in an interview with a German journalist, Poland’s tvp.info website reported.
The ambassador was asked about the massacres of Poles by Stepan Bandera’s Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). He replied that during World War II there were mass killings of both Polish and Ukrainian people, according to tvp.info.
“This was war,” Melnyk said, as cited by the Polish website.
Polish and Ukrainian diplomats held informal talks on how to respond to Melnyk’s comment, tvp.info reported.
‘Not the stance of Ukraine’s foreign ministry’
The foreign ministry in Kyiv released a statement saying that Polish-Ukrainian relations were at a high-point. It thanked Poland for its unprecedented support of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression, according to tvp.info.
The statement also said, as quoted by tvp.info: “Nothing divides us because both in Kyiv and in Warsaw there is full awareness of the need to maintain unity in the face of urgent threats. The comments made by the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, in an interview with a German journalist, represent his personal views and do not reflect the stance of Ukraine’s foreign ministry."
Polish FM thanks Ukrainian counterpart for ‘quick public intervention’
Poland’s top diplomat Zbigniew Rau took to Twitter about the issue.
He said in an English-language tweet: “I had a conversation with my friend, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, about the false statements on history of Andrij Melnyk. I thanked Minister Kuleba for a quick public intervention in this matter."
Rau also tweeted that Poland and Ukraine "together must face both attempts of provocation and a lack of prudence and responsibility."
Meanwhile, Jakub Kumoch, a top foreign policy advisor to Polish President Andrzej Duda, said in a Twitter post: “The Ukrainian foreign ministry has distanced itself from the words of Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany about Polish-Ukrainian history. It would be hard not to."
Friday is day 128 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: tvp.info, wp.pl