President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a “good first conversation” with Poland’s President-Elect Karol Nawrocki on Thursday.
Nawrocki was declared the victor in June’s presidential election with a razor-thin margin against his opponent, pro-European Rafał Trzaskowski.
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Nawrocki, supported by Polish President Andrzej Duda’s Law and Justice (PiS) party, opposed Ukraine’s NATO accession, despite maintaining an anti-Russian stance.
Zelensky said he had informed Nawrocki of the Russian attacks on Kyiv and other cities on Thursday morning during the call, adding that Kyiv continues to count on Warsaw as a “reliable partner and ally.”
“Today, we had a good first conversation with the President-elect of Poland, Karol @NawrockiKn. I congratulated him on his election victory on June 1 and wished him success. We count on Poland to remain our reliable partner and ally,” Zelensky wrote on X, in an announcement that was duplicated in Polish in addition to the regular Ukrainian version.
Zelensky thanked Poland for its aid to Kyiv throughout Moscow’s invasion and called for Warsaw’s continued support for Kyiv.
“We value all the support Poland has provided since the very beginning of the full-scale war – military, political, and humanitarian. Last night, Russia launched yet another massive attack on Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote.
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Direct hits from five missiles, including one on a residential building in Kyiv, and 21 drones were recorded at 12 sites. Debris fell in 19 locations, most of them in Kyiv.
“I informed about the consequences of this strike and the situation on the front line. It is crucial for us that Poland continues to support Ukraine, because we are defending not only ourselves, but all of Europe, including Poland,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, a Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv and other cities left 11 dead and over a hundred injured – one of the highest casualty tolls in the capital since the 2022 invasion began.
Zelensky added that the two would maintain communications.
Poland’s response
Rafał Leśkiewicz, Nawrocki’s spokesperson, confirmed the call took place and said it was initiated by Zelensky.
Nawrocki said Warsaw would continue to support Kyiv’s defense against Russia and criticized Russia as a “neo-imperial and colonial state,” according to Leśkiewicz.
“The president-elect reaffirmed his continued support for Ukraine in the ongoing war, a result of aggression by the Russian Federation. Russia is a neo-imperial and colonial state, ruled by the war criminal Vladimir Putin. Therefore, Ukraine, struggling against the Kremlin regime, can count on Poland’s support,” Leśkiewicz wrote on X.
However, Leśkiewicz said the two also discussed “historical policy,” a reference to the Volhynia massacre in the 1940s that remained a flashpoint between Warsaw and Kyiv – a point that Zelensky omitted in his update.
“Historical policy was a key topic of the conversation. Karol Nawrocki emphasized that he is the voice of the nation, demanding a change in Ukraine’s approach to important and as yet unresolved historical issues. This should change,” Leśkiewicz wrote.
“The president-elect announced that historical issues will be the subject of further discussions with the president of Ukraine,” he added.