Zelensky says Ukraine-Poland relations have improved, thanks Tusk
On 17 October, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists in an audio communication that relations between Ukraine and Poland have recently improved. He thanked Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Polish people for their support, said Russia is the common enemy of both countries, and framed his renewed use of the Rzeszów airport for foreign travel as a further sign of repair after months of tension.
Key points
- On 17 October, Zelensky told journalists in an audio communication that Ukraine-Poland relations have recently improved.
- Zelensky thanked Poland, the Polish diplomatic team, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Polish people for their support of Ukraine.
- Zelensky said Russia is the common enemy of Ukraine and Poland and that Moscow is concerned about a strong Kyiv-Warsaw alliance.
- He said the two countries need to keep strengthening ties and resolve problematic issues calmly.
- On 14 October, Zelensky departed on a foreign trip from Rzeszów airport in Poland for the first time since the Order of the White Eagle scandal.
- Earlier in the year, amid the diplomatic conflict, he had been using airports in Moldova and Romania for foreign travel instead of Rzeszów.
Why it matters
The statement signals an apparent turnaround in a bilateral relationship that had sharply deteriorated for several months. It came after Zelensky resumed using the Rzeszów airport for a foreign trip for the first time since the crisis, a change in practice visible in both capitals. By publicly framing Poland as a partner against a shared Russian threat, Zelensky raised the political stakes of any future friction. The warming has direct implications for Ukraine's EU accession path, which Warsaw had previously threatened to block, and sits alongside the unresolved dispute over the revocation of Zelensky's Order of the White Eagle.
What happened
On 17 October, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists in an audio communication that relations between Ukraine and Poland have improved. He thanked Poland, the Polish diplomatic team, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Polish people for their support of Ukraine, and said Russia is the common enemy of both countries and is concerned about the strengthening of their union. Zelensky said the two countries need to keep strengthening ties and resolve problematic issues calmly, and expressed confidence they can resolve even very difficult matters. The journalists' question was prompted by Zelensky's return to using the Rzeszów airport for a foreign trip on 14 October, his first departure from there since the start of the Order of the White Eagle scandal. Earlier in the year, amid the diplomatic conflict with Warsaw, he had been departing on foreign travel from airports in Moldova and Romania instead of Rzeszów.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian outlets frame the moment as a clear improvement in relations after a long downturn, foregrounding Zelensky's thanks to Poland, Donald Tusk and the Polish people for supporting Ukraine. They emphasize the geopolitical framing of Russia as the common enemy of both countries and Moscow's concern about a strong Kyiv-Warsaw alliance, alongside the symbolic return of Rzeszów as a departure airport for presidential travel. Several outlets flag the unresolved background disputes — the Order of the White Eagle revocation, the fight over honoring UPA and OUN figures, and Warsaw's threat to block Ukraine's EU accession — to show how deep the recent crisis ran. The coverage generally avoids blaming Warsaw as a whole, treating the tensions as problems to be resolved calmly between the two countries.
Background
Relations between Ukraine and Poland deteriorated sharply in late May and early June after a Ukrainian military unit was given the honorary name 'Heroes of the UPA.' Polish President Karol Nawrocki revoked Zelensky's Order of the White Eagle over the dispute; several former Ukrainian presidents then renounced Polish awards, and Polish figures in turn refused Ukrainian awards. The Polish government demanded that Ukraine stop honoring UPA and OUN figures and threatened to block Ukraine's EU accession, while the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called the Polish actions a 'strategic mistake' and said Kyiv would not let its history be dictated to it. Amid the standoff, Zelensky began departing on foreign trips from Chișinău in Moldova and later from Romania rather than from Rzeszów; he flew to the UK via Chișinău on 7 June. In late July, returning from the United States, he flew to Lublin for a meeting with Donald Tusk, and on 29 July the two held talks. In June, a Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine was held in Gdańsk, with Ukraine represented by a delegation led by the prime minister after Zelensky chose not to attend. On 23 August, Zelensky signed a law 'On the Ukrainian National Pantheon' providing for the honoring of figures including UPA commanders, which Warsaw warned could create major problems for Ukraine's EU path. Warsaw has also been pushing Kyiv to exhume remains of victims of the 1943–1944 Volhynia tragedy, while the Ukrainian side says historical questions should be left to historians. On 15 October in Brussels, Zelensky and Tusk met at an EU summit. Polish police recorded 180 hate-crime complaints against Ukrainians in the first half of 2026, more than 30% higher than in the same period of 2025.