Budanov warned of a deterioration in relations with Poland
Kirill Budanov, Chief of Staff of the Office of the President of Ukraine, believes that the current disputes between Ukraine and Poland are a serious mistake. According to him, if the parties do not de-escalate tensions, the situation could escalate even further.
He also commented on future relations with Russia, information attacks, and the prosecution of war criminals. Speaking about relations between Kyiv and Warsaw, Budanov emphasized that he views the current situation negatively. “I view the scandal with Poland very negatively. As a mistake. And a terrible one at that,” he said.
According to the Chief of Staff of the Office of the President of Ukraine, this is not yet an open conflict, but rather a serious disagreement. At the same time, he warned that the situation could become even more complicated. “This isn’t the peak yet, believe me. It will escalate further if everyone doesn’t rein it in a bit,” Budanov noted.
During the meeting, he also touched on the topic of future relations with Russia. Budanov emphasized that Ukraine will always share a border with the aggressor state, so the country needs to be prepared for such a neighborhood. “A certain territory will always border us. Most likely, always. We need to prepare for this,” he said. Separately, Budanov commented on reports of alleged mass migration to Ukraine. In his view, this is part of an information campaign.
According to the Chief of Staff of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukraine has historically been a country where people of different nationalities and religions coexist peacefully, and attempts to sow discord in society on this issue are artificial. Budanov also answered a question about the possibility of creating a structure in Ukraine similar to Israel’s Mossad to track down and prosecute Russian war criminals. “All of this already exists—there’s no need to create anything. It’s already there,” he replied.
During the meeting, Budanov did not specify which events he was referring to when discussing the current tensions between Ukraine and Poland. At the same time, he made it clear that he considers maintaining partnership relations between the two countries to be important and called for preventing the situation from escalating further. Budanov made this statement during a meeting with students at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Kirill Budanov stated on June 26 that a new prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia could take place in the coming days. According to him, “you’ll see in a few days.”
Earlier, Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada’s Human Rights Commissioner, commented on preparations for a “1,000 for 1,000” prisoner exchange. He said that technical work is currently underway at the level of the negotiating teams, which are working out the details of the upcoming process.
Lubinec presented a draft report on Russia’s war crimes against Ukrainian prisoners of war.
