Ukraine's strong ties with Poland seen as threat by Russia - gov't official
Russia considers the strong relations between Ukraine and Poland to be a threat and will strive to undermine them, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleksandr Mishchenko has told PAP.
While on an official visit to Warsaw on November 27-28, Mishchenko said that Kyiv appreciated peace initiatives undertaken by the US and its other allies aimed at achieving just and lasting peace in Ukraine's war with Russia.
He added that any peace proposal suggesting that Ukraine would surrender its territory occupied by Russia, limit its military capability and restrict the freedom to choose military alliances would be utterly unacceptable.
Mishchenko also spoke about the Polish-Ukrainian cooperation on exhuming the remains of victims of past mutual conflicts, which he viewed as a constructive process leading to building common trust between the two countries and a demonstration of Ukraine's readiness to solve sensitive historical issues.
In his opinion, Russia realises that the strong ties binding Poland and Ukraine are a guarantee of their joint victory and as such Russia sees them as its strategic threat and knows it cannot allow the two countries to reach a lasting agreement.
Mishchenko remarked that a large portion of negative narratives about Ukraine and Poland online was purposefully spread by Russia as part of its hybrid warfare. By exploiting the tragic historical past of the two countries as well as current tensions Russia aimed to weaken the Polish-Ukrainian unity. Any Russian hybrid attack, be it disinformation or drone incursions into NATO airspace, required an adequate response, the minister concluded. (PAP)
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