WARSAW (Reuters) -The Polish prime minister said on Tuesday that Russia was seeking to drive a wedge between Warsaw and Kyiv ahead of peace talks, after an outcry over a spectator waving a Ukrainian nationalist flag at a concert in Poland’s national stadium.
Poland has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest backers since Russia invaded in 2022, but some Poles have grown weary of refugees from their war-torn neighbour, while historical tensions between the nations over World War Two massacres have at times risen to the surface, straining ties and boosting the Polish far-right.
Many Poles were angered by footage shared on social media which showed an audience member at a concert in the National Stadium in Warsaw on Saturday waving the red and black flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a nationalist group Poland says was involved in the 1943-1945 Volhynia massacres of Poles.
However, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a government meeting that Poles and Ukrainians must not allow themselves to be divided ahead of a crucial summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday.
“It’s truly fundamental from the perspective of Polish security that Putin not receive gifts before these talks, and such a gift for Putin would undoubtedly be conflict between Ukrainians and Poles,” Tusk said.
“This is precisely the… goal of Russian agents and Russia’s actions in Poland.”
The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plan to speak with Trump on Wednesday before his summit with Putin in Alaska, amid fears that Washington, hitherto Ukraine’s leading arms supplier, may dictate unfavourable peace terms to Kyiv.
Warsaw police said they had detained 109 people during the concert by Belarusian rapper Max Korzh for offences ranging from drug possession to assaulting security personnel.
Tusk said that proceedings were underway to deport 63 people following the disturbances at the concert – 57 Ukrainians and six Belarusians.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian man who was filmed waving the UPA flag apologised for his actions in a video shared on social media, saying that he had only meant to show support for his country.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
